Unlike Weera that bears fruits annually, Palu does not fruit annually. In some areas, fruits happen every two years. The exact reason for this phenomenon is not yet known.
This year, in Wasgamuwa, almost all the mature Palu trees started to blossom in late April hinting a good Palu fruit season. By mid-July, the Palu trees became very noticeable since every twig in the branches was laden with bunches of yellow coloured fruits.
I have tasted Palu fruit several times previously, but not in Wasgamuwa. So, I waited eagerly to climb a good Palu tree to taste some of the fresh succulent fruit.
In Wasgamuwa there is a place called “Palu Pitiya” meaning the field of Palu trees since it is a large area predominantly dominated by Palu trees. I was lucky enough to go to this area this year. So for the first time this year as luck would have it, we were at Palu Pitiya on June 23rd and as expected, every tree in Palu Pitiya was festooned with yellow fruits. When we got there, we could not help climbing the trees to pick some of these fresh fruits. After satisfying our cravings with hundreds of sweet Palu fruits and spending more than an hour for that, we suddenly realized that we had to re-focus on our main work, setting up our remote cameras. Palu fruits are very sweet and hence a very good energy booster especially during the hot weather. So, we tool some fruits to snack later.
Throughout that day, we stopped at several different Palu trees to taste the fruits. This is because the villgers in Wasgamuwa say, the taste of the fruits vary from place to place. They were right of course, the sweetness of the fruits differs from place to place. All of us unanimously agreed though that the best Palu fruits are from the trees at Palu Pitiya.
During this time, Weera trees were also laden with fruits. However, compared to Palu fruits, Weera fruits are not that sweet, sometimes an “over dose” of Weera fruits, can make your throat very dry.