Durio zibethinus (durian)

Japanese name: ドリアン
Scientific name: Durio zibethinus

[Overview]
An evergreen tree up to 40 m tall.
It has a neat conical crown, and the bark peels easily.
The leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic to oblong, 8–20 cm long and about 5 cm wide, leathery, with entire margins.
The upper surface of the leaves is glossy, with conspicuous pinnate veins.
The underside of the leaves is covered with brown to grayish-brown scales.
The flowers are cauliflorous or ramiflorous, with cymes emerging directly from the trunk or large branches.
The flower buds are enclosed by an epicalyx, which splits open at flowering to reveal the flower.
There are about 25 flowers per inflorescence; each is about 5 cm across, cream-colored with 5 petals, and both the stamens and pistil project out of the flower.
The flowers open from evening into the night, and pollination is by bats, insects and birds.
The flower stalk is about 15 cm long, and the small flower stalks are about 5–8 cm.
Some fruits reach 30 cm in length, 15 cm in diameter and 7–8 kg in weight; the fruit is a capsule whose surface is covered with hard pentagonal-pyramid spines 1–2 cm long.
When ripe, the fruit falls naturally, splits open, and gives off a distinctive odor.

[Uses]
Called the "king of fruits," it is eaten for the fleshy aril around the seeds.
The aril is creamy and sweet and very delicious, but has a distinctive strong odor.

[Cultivation]
Propagation is mainly by grafting.
Because it is a tropical plant, grow it indoors as a foliage plant.

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