On Saturday I wrote about a tree I encountered that I recognized when visiting the Florida SouthWestern College meditation garden. I searched all the American trees online trying to identify with absolutely no luck. Even a friend tried. She also came up dry.
Then, out of nowhere, probably in the middle of the night, I thought "sausage tree." I knew this tree as the sausage tree because of its fruit.
Once I searched that, I found the tree: Kigelia. It is from Africa, which is why I couldn't find it when searching North, Central, and South American trees.
But the mystery still remained: Why did I know the sausage tree? And why was it in the meditation garden, when it seems like they should have planted native plants? That is, after all, the environmental push around here.
Then, again in the middle of the night, I remembered.
It was within my first few days after arriving in Fort Myers with my sister-in-law Gail that we decided to visit the Edison/Ford Estates. The sausage tree was one of the most unusual sights. Edison has plant species from all around the world there, and this one was a standout. At the time it had full fruit, much like the tree I saw at the garden. I swear I have a picture of it somewhere, but still cannot lay my hands on it.
This solved the mystery as to why this particular tree graces several spots in the meditation garden. When the garden was installed, the name of the campus was Edison Community College. There is a statue of Edison in the garden when you enter. Of course they planted vegetation propagated at the Edison Estates. It makes perfect sense.
So...all my questions answered.
In searching my photos from that time, I found this photo. It is from the day I arrived in Florida and set foot for the first time on Fort Myers Beach. After living my life in a heavily green space environment, I had arrived at the ultimate blue space.
I was home.
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