Trees for Peace
Re-discovering the Camachile Tree
Dr Abe V Rotor
Camachile (Pithecolobium
dulce) is a medium to a fairly large tree. It is also called Manila
tamaind. Its pods are eaten raw and loved by children in the province. The pods
that fall to the ground are eaten by goats, fowls, and other animals.
To
the rural bred, camachile is virtually a password in summer, its fruiting
season. We kids in our time, armed with bamboo pole, would eye at the dangling
bright red or golden dehiscent pods, and under the shade of the tree, feast on
our harvest to our delight.
The flesh surrounding the seeds is sweet and somewhat acrid (mapakla)
because of high tannin, which is good to those suffering of diabetes and high
blood, so our old folks believed. I do not know of any way of eating camachile
other than raw. Just split the pod and separate
the seeds. Seldom is it served on the dining table. There's no recipe I am aware
of. Simply enjoy eating, no soft drinks, no sugar or salt.
The tree is resistant to drought and grows in poor soil because it makes its
own fertilizer, so to speak. It has a spreading root system that harbors
nitrogen-bacteria (Rhizobium). It is also resistant to saline
condition (halophyte) and is found growing in estuaries and in fact along the
seashore with coconut trees venture into the breakwater.
I remember old camachile trees, some perhaps fifty years old, lining the
Bantaoay River in our town San Vicente, site of the historic Basi Revolt of
1807. There under their adventitious roots were the burrows of river eels or palos
(igat Ilk), while under their overhanging branches over the river,
mullets (banak Tag., purong Ilk ) would idly group in summer.
Adventurous as we were then, we would hook for both igat and purong, and in
Ilocano, brag of our catch, fair or big. We did not starve waiting for our fish
even for a whole day, thanks to the benevolent camachile. What tree can beat
camachile? We got shelter, breeze, fish, fruit, firewood to broil our
catch, and birdsong in its top.
Trees growing along the riverbank serve as natural
riprap, and those along borders make a natural fence what with its spiny stems
and branches. And when planted close in a row or two become a windbreak
against typhoon. Thus Camachile is recommended for reforestation and
rehabilitation of wasteland.
On the farm the leaves serve as feeds for goat and
other ruminant animals. The leaves make good compost and are often mixed with
hay or rice hull to serve as bedding of farm animals. The spent litter is then
cleaned off and sent to the garden or field for fertilizer and mulch.
Nothing is wasted of the tree. Old branches are pruned for fence, post, rama (fish sanctuary, and firewood. Old
trees make good house materials and furniture. Camachile wood is durable and
make fine furniture. It can be mistaken for narra. I remember a Manila visitor
who came to town to buy a sala set. All the time he was thinking of it was made
of narra. "It it camachile wood, " revealed the artisan, and got a
premio (token) for his honesty.
In my research in college I came to know that the bark and pulp are astringent
and hemostatic, true to the claims of our folks at home. So with the natives of
the tree's origin - Central America - who use the pulp and bark against gum
ailments, toothache and hemorrhages. Medical science has advanced such
remedies. A bark extract is used against dysentery, chronic diarrhea and
tuberculosis. An extract of the leaves is used for gall ailments and to prevent
miscarriage. The ground seed is used to clean ulcers, among other uses,
many of which remain to be discovered.
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