Dragon Fruit Seed Dispersal

September 5, 2011.  We've been testing out the tropical fruits.  The second day we were in Jakarta, our sponsors took us to the Grand Lucky grocery store.  In our excitement, we bought enough fruit to fill a large tub.  Since then, we've been better able to control ourselves and try to buy enough for the two of us as opposed to a family of twenty.  We regularly eat mangoes and kiwis.  There are many different types of mangoes.  They all taste delicious.  We have also been eating golden kiwis.  They look similar to green kiwis except they have yellow flesh instead of green.

Dragon fruit comes from a type of cactus.  The dragon fruit below is red inside with small, edible, black seeds.  We've also had white dragon fruit, which is white instead of red on the inside.  Ever fascinated by pollination and seed dispersal mechanisms, the morning after I ate an entire white dragon fruit I was delighted to discover that the seed dispersal strategy for this plant was quite evident.  I won't go into the details; Doc doesn't like to read about those sorts of things.  But while I'm on the topic (one of my favorites as a microbiologist and former Peace Corps Volunteer - just ask any of my former Biology students at Kennedy High School), I'd like to give a shout out to my niece Karson who has recently had a major break though in this area.  Way to go, KJ!

Red Dragon Fruit