Kembang Semangkok

This month, I will give ulam a break.  Instead, I will write a little that I 
know of the Kembang Semangkok, a unique indigenous tree.  Some of you may not 
have heard of kembang semangkok before, but I am sure you have eaten its "jelly" 
without realising that it is from the kembang semangkok seeds.  The brownish 
jelly-like substance in our Leng Chee Kang drink is actually the saturated pulp 
of the kembang semangkok seeds.  The dry seed pulp when soaked in water will 
absorb up the moisture and swell into a dirty-looking mucilage.  Our local 
folks, for medicinal purposes, drink the gel (sweetened, of course) for coughs, 
cold, asthma, dysentery and as a febrifuge (fever reliever).  I can still 
remember an old hut in Kuala Terengganu in the early sixties selling the kembang 
semangkok and biji selasih (basil seed) drink.  The Terengganu air Cikung, a 
variant of the Leng Chee Kang also has the kembang semangkok gel as one of the 
ingredients.

The kembang semangkok is a handsome tree and yields good timber and makes 
beautiful furniture.  It hails from the family Sterculiaceae like the Kelumpang 
(Sterculia foetida).  We have two species recorded in the Peninsular Malaysia, 
namely Scaphium macropodium and S. linearicarpum.  They do not flower every year 
but if they do, their fragrant blossoms appear between February and June with 
fruit setting from July to November. 

I have come across the seeds many times before without realising that the boat-
shaped structure with a roundish or oval seed attached to the base actually 
belongs to kembang semangkok.  It was only during the outing to Belum last 
Deepavali that we (Phang and I) discovered the factuality (we discovered more 
facts than that in this innocent outing that created hot issues on intended 
logging in Belum).  Near to the former MNS base camp at Sungai Halong, we 
encountered many of these boat-shaped structures with germinating seeds.  It was 
during the collection of some of the seedlings that the slimy mucilage around 
the cotyledon leaves caught my attention.  Upon closer examination, it looked 
like the kembang semangkok jelly.  Then it occurred to me that the brownish 
olive-shaped seeds were the same as the ones I used to buy in the market, minus 
the boat-shaped structure.  I believe the seeds are recalcitrant (not stubborn 
in the real sense but unable to germinate in the dried form) because I tried 
germinating those seeds bought from the market without success.

The light green papery boat-shaped structure is actually the seed pod. See the 
line drawing.  Upon maturity, it will split open on one side exposing a thumb-
sized seed which dangle on one end.  When dropped from the tree, the seed, 
acting like a weight attached to a parachute (the boat-shaped pod) will spiral 
in the air helping in the seed dispersal away from the parent tree.  On the 
ground, the seeds absorbing the moisture from the soil surface or from the rain, 
will get detached from the pod and start to swell to form the jelly.  The jelly 
acts as a storage of moisture for germination to take place.  It probably also 
supply some nourishment to the germinating embryo as well.  The whole process is 
like a carefully designed and a well calculated stratagem to ensure the survival 
of a species.  Wonderful Mother Nature at work! 
...................................................... Koon Hup
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