''Sterculia monosperma'', also known as Chinese chestnut, Thai chestnut, seven sisters' fruit, and phoenix eye fruit, is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

nut-bearing tree of genus '' Sterculia''.

Distribution

Its origin is southern China (

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

and

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

) and Taiwan, but it is now a common cultivated tree in northern Thailand, northern Vietnam, mountainous areas of Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as northern Laos and

Shan State Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

in Burma.

Human uses

The ripe nuts are edible. They may be eaten plain, roasted, boiled with water and salt or also may be used to prepare dishes, such as sauteed with chicken.Sterculia Monosperma tree
/ref> In China these nuts are one of the traditional foods of the Qixi Festival, the 'night of the seven', also known as the 'anniversary of the seventh sister'. Qixi is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The pods containing the nuts have a striking red color when ripe and the nuts are much darker —their husk or pericarpus is almost black— and smaller than the common chestnuts of genus '' Castanea''. The pellicle is brown and smooth and the fruit is yellowish in color.

Gallery

File:Sterculia monosperma277.JPG, Steamed nuts File:蘋婆Sterculia monosperma 20210428211335 01.jpg, Flower, macro photography. File:蘋婆Sterculia monosperma 20210428211335 07.jpg, Inflorescence. File:蘋婆Sterculia monosperma 20210428211335 13.jpg, Flowers in full bloom.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4923879 monosperma Trees of China Trees of Thailand Flora of Myanmar Flora of Laos Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat