Reconnecting with your roots doesn't have to mean just exploring the cultural aspects of your culture, you can also reconnect by visiting the trees your ancestors may have been familiar with! I was missing tropical Southeast Asia so I decided to go to the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens to look for trees that were linked to Maritime Southeast Asia. I didn't get to see all the beautiful trees, but I'm glad I found some native to the area. I especially felt a strong connection to the bamboo clump (technically it isn't a tree) and also the tamarind tree. Even though it's not native to Southeast Asia, it has a strong connection to me as the fisherman or trepangers from Makassar as well as other parts of Indonesia planted tamarinds in Northern Australia.

#trees #nativetrees #tropicaltrees #rockhampton #flora #queensland #rockhamptonbotanicgardens #coconutpalm #tamarind #macassan #austronesia #australia #malaysia #indonesia #jackfruit #nangka #langka #starfruit #carambola #northernaustralia #bugis #indonesian #bamboo #asianhistory #asianheritage #nature #philippines #fruit #arborist

SOURCES

Australian Aborigines and Makassan trepangers. (2012). Blogs.bl.uk. blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2012/05/australian-aborigi…

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, February 19). coconut palm. Encyclopedia Britannica. www.britannica.com/plant/coconut-palm

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, February 2). tamarind. Encyclopedia Britannica. www.britannica.com/plant/tamarind

Ranasinghe, R. a. S. N., Maduwanthi, S. D. T., & Marapana, R. a. U. J. (2019, January 6). Nutritional and Health Benefits of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.): A Review. International Journal of Food Science. www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfs/2019/4327183/

Tamarind. (n.d.). National Parks Board. www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/heritag…