Wampee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wampee |
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| Ripe Clausena lansium fruits | |
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Clausena wampi (Blanco), Oliver. |
The wampee (pronounced WAHM-pee), also known as Clausena lansium, is a special tree from Southeast Asia. Its name comes from the Chinese words "huang pi," which mean "yellow-skinned fruit." This tree is an evergreen, meaning it stays green all year round. It belongs to the Rutaceae family, which also includes citrus fruits like oranges and lemons.
Wampee trees usually grow to be about 3 to 8 meters (10 to 26 feet) tall. Some can even reach up to 20 meters (65 feet)! Their leaves are smooth and a dark green color. In late March, the trees produce small, white flowers. These flowers have four or five petals and are only about 3 to 4 millimeters wide.
The wampee is grown for its tasty fruit. The fruit is oval-shaped, about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) long and 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) wide. It's about the size of a grape and has a lovely, strong citrus smell. Inside, each fruit has two to five seeds. These seeds can take up almost half of the fruit's space!
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Growing Wampee Trees
Wampee trees love warm places. They grow best in tropical or subtropical areas. This means they don't like cold weather very much. If it gets too chilly, the trees can get sick.
Where Wampee Trees Grow Best
Wampee trees can grow in many different kinds of soil. However, they grow best in rich loam soil. This type of soil has a good mix of sand, silt, and clay, which helps the tree get the nutrients it needs.
Where Wampee is Popular
The wampee fruit is very popular in many parts of Asia. You can find it widely grown in countries like China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Wampee Around the World
While it's most common in Southeast Asia, wampee is also grown in other places. You might find it in India, Sri Lanka, and Queensland, Australia. Sometimes, it's even grown in warmer parts of the United States, like Florida and Hawaii. In Hong Kong, especially in the New Territories, wampee is a favorite fruit among the local Hakka people.
How to Eat Wampee
When you eat a wampee, you can often eat the skin and seeds along with the juicy inside. It's a bit like eating a kumquat, where you enjoy the whole fruit!
Gallery
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A hybrid, seedless wampee that is larger and juicier than the normal variety; however, it is still more sour than sweet.
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Flowering Clausena lansium in Hong Kong
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Unripe fruits on a Clausena lansium tree
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Clausena lansium seeds - the scale on the left is 1 mm per division
