Tropical Fruits

This is a star fruit on a tree in the World Botanical Garden on Kona.

I met a new fruit in Hawaii- rambutan.The red spiky fruit comes in yellow also but the red ones are the only kind I saw. A sawing motion with a knife pierced the thick skin and I was able to pop the pulp out. It has a large ovoid seed and of course I saved a few to try to germinate. I have not tried them yet and I hope they have not dried out too much. The pulp is firmer than a muscadine, but not quite as sweet or sharp.In fact, although it is pleasant, the taste is fairly bland, at least to me. They are a favorite for home gardens and orchards. On the tree rambutan develops in cluster and they keep better if they are left attached to the cluster, rather than picked off. Rambutan is related to lychee which is sometimes on the fruit bar at Chinese restaurants.
We had an array of tropical fruits . Papaya, of course, is familiar, and is good for digestion. The star fruit is beautiful and somewhat sharp in taste and makes a lovely addition to the plate. Passion fruits are the round yellow ones filled with dark seed. The mucilage surrounding the seed is the edible part, and it also is quite acidic. The southeastern passion fruits as I remember them were quite insipid.