About Sterculia monosperma Vent.
Sterculia monosperma Vent., commonly called Chinese chestnut, Thai chestnut, seven sisters' fruit, and phoenix eye fruit, is a deciduous tropical nut-bearing tree belonging to the genus Sterculia. It originates from southern China, including Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan, as well as Taiwan. Today it is widely cultivated as a common tree in northern Thailand, northern Vietnam, mountainous regions of Malaysia and Indonesia, northern Laos, and Shan State in Burma. The tree’s ripe nuts are edible, and can be eaten plain, roasted, or boiled with water and salt. They are also used to prepare prepared dishes such as sauteed chicken. In China, these nuts are a traditional food associated with the Qixi Festival, also called the 'night of the seven' or the 'anniversary of the seventh sister', which is held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. When ripe, the pods that hold the nuts are a striking red. The nuts themselves are much darker than common chestnuts from the genus Castanea, with an almost black husk (pericarpus), and are smaller in size than common Castanea chestnuts. The nut’s pellicle is brown and smooth, and the edible portion of the fruit is yellowish.
