Durian is the spiky Southeast Asian fruit famous for a smell so strong that many hotels and public transit systems in the region, including Singapore's subway, ban it. Fans call it the "king of fruits" for its rich, custard-like flesh. In the US, it is grown on a small scale in Hawaii.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A tall evergreen tree, kept to about 30 ft (10 m) in orchards.
- Leaves
- Elliptic to oblong leaves, about 4–7 in (10–18 cm) long.
- Flowers
- Large, feathery white flowers hang in clusters from the trunk and thick branches. They stay closed by day and are pollinated by bats.
- Fruit
- Up to 12 in (30 cm) long and usually 2–7 lb (1–3 kg), with a hard, thorny green-to-brown husk. It ripens about three months after pollination.
Look-alikes
JackfruitArtocarpus heterophyllus
Durian is covered in sharp thorns; jackfruit has a rubbery rind with blunt bumps. Jackfruit also gets much bigger, up to about 110 lb (50 kg).
Why they get mixed upBoth are big, bumpy tropical fruits sold in Asian markets, but the trees are unrelated.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Tropical rainforest
- Orchards
- Range
- Thought to be native to Borneo and Sumatra, with wild trees also on the Malay Peninsula. Widely grown in Southeast Asia, from Thailand and Malaysia to the Philippines. In the US it is not found in the wild; it grows in Hawaii, where it was introduced in 1881 as a gift from the king of Siam to King Kalākaua.
- Preferred conditions
- Needs a hot, humid tropical climate and well-drained soil.
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- The strong smell draws large animals such as orangutans, sun bears, and elephants, which eat the fruit and carry the seeds away.
Growing it
- Propagation
- Grown from seed or . A typical tree starts bearing after four or five years.
- Toxicity
- A University of Tsukuba study reported that sulfur compounds in durian slow the body's breakdown of alcohol, though studies have not agreed. Raw seeds contain potentially harmful fatty acids.
Name and classification
- Varieties and forms
- There are many cultivars. Musang King (D197), found in Malaysia in the 1980s, has bright yellow flesh, while Monthong, prized in Thailand, has thick, creamy, mildly sweet flesh.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- The name comes from the Malay word duri, meaning "thorn."
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