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Box Fruit
Barringtonia asiatica


Typical, long-term drifted specimen (left) and fresh specimens (right).

The scientific name of the Box Fruit, Barringtonia asiatica, implies it's origin... or at least it's "original origin"! Ed Perry states, in his book "Sea-beans from the Tropics" (pg 81) that the Box Fruit is "a Southeast Asian species that has been widely introduced in the world's Tropics" and "enough trees are present in the Caribbean region to provide drift specimens reported from Yucatan, Texas, and Florida". These fruits have so many air pockets in them that they float high in the water. Thus, they've been used by fishermen as floats for their nets. An extract from the fruit has been made to poison fish, thereby facilitating easy collection of the fish. It has been called the "Sea Poison Tree" or "Fish Poison Tree".

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Barringtonia asiatica - Beach Barringtonia, Fish-killer Tree, Putat Laut, Sea Putat