Donald Diddams
The Art of Digital Art
A Flower in the Magic Forest
Cannonball tree flower -2009
The cannonball tree is named for its heavy round fruit that grows on gnarled stems attached to the tree’s trunk (see photo below). The flowers are beautifully complex and colorful, with hues of red, orange, yellow and white – almost a world unto themselves. You can see a second interpretation of this flower on my web site.
This tree is a specimen at the St. George Village Botanical Garden on St. Croix, home to many strange and wonderful tropical plants. And no, the fruits are not edible. In fact they stink when they fall and crack open.
Cannonball tree fruit
Donald Diddams 
The shot of the flower looks like it was taken underwater. Very dreamy and alien.
Don- your web site looks great. I really like the version of this crazy flower on that page.
The saturation of color is superb.
And yes, a little alien, which is part of the lure.
The cannonball and sausage trees were the most interesting to me at the garden.
Razzbuffnik, agreed. It looks like some strange red sea anemone hanging on a reef somewhere.
Bonnie, thanks! I like the one on the web page, too. I have several pictures of that sausage tree, but my advisor says they are too phallic… Imagine that!
Tell Karla to loosen up.
Looks like one of those sea creatures–Spanish fans or something like that.
I remember now having seen a cannonball tree in…Hawaii I think? Didn’t smell it though.
Jala, even in real life it looks a little like a sea anemone, and here even more. Weird trees aren’t they? I think it is only the cannonballs that smell when they break open. I don’t think the flowers have much odor at all.
The flower looks like an exploding canon ball
photos4u2c – Never thought of that… or, it looks like a cannonball just splashed into a big pool of red water.