Clusia rosea

The Tree That Saved Itself must be aware of its potential imminent demise. It has decided to bloom. It has gotten a firm foot hold into the ground four feet below the deck and the pot it is allegedly living in and has been growing quite robustly.

Clusia rosea blooms regularly in the tropics. The tree does not put on much of a floral display with these unique large waxy white blooms tinged in pink. The flowers stay hidden demurely in the thick crown of leaves and go unnoticed most of the time.

When you do notice them they are rather astounding.


















The petals of the flowers are as stiff and rubbery as the leaves on the tree.The delicate coloration creates the illusion of a papery blossom. Who knows what the proper botanical terminology would be to describe the Kiwi Fruit Layer Cake inside the petals that gets the business end of this process accomplished.















It was only half way open this morning. By late this afternoon the petals were fully spread to reveal their individual heart shaped outlines. The Kiwi Layer Cake inside was covered in a clear and shiny viscous liquid. It looked sugary enough to tempt you to swipe your finger across it for a taste of the icing.















Fully open this odd stiff flower is the size of a good bakeries generous muffin.














And it pops out of this hard round jumbo gumball in just one day.