Buzz
After 1975, there's a song that leaves me curious, 'Whoever goes to the South, through Dong Thap Muoi, encounters the lip balm flowers, knows that spring has arrived...' (Huy Du).
Explore the Western region, indulge in ripe lip balm, and listen to a love story
Many say lip balm flowers are only found in the Southwest region. Those of us growing up in the Mekong Delta often reminisce about lip balm flowers, mischievous childhood memories in the countryside.
No one knows when the lip balm tree arrived in Vietnam or why it chose the fertile land of the Southwest to settle. No one has heard of the origin and unique name of the lip balm flower. All we know is that the tree blooms throughout the spring season, bearing fruit by early summer.
Rural children use lip balm flowers to make crowns and engage in selling antics. Ripe lip balm fruits are generous gifts from the countryside. Throughout the year, the lip balm tree, humble like a farmer, goes unnoticed. At the end of winter, leaves fall, lip balm flowers bloom in vivid pink, like sturdy parachutes, stunningly beautiful, heralding the arrival of spring.
Early summer, when branches sprout leaves and last season's lip balm fruits begin to ripen. If spring heralds blossoms, then summer heralds lip balm fruits. Ripe lip balm fruits, deep black in color from peel to flesh, boast a rich and intense sweet taste, with a hint of alluvial muskiness.
Lip balm fruits serve both for consumption and health. Soaking them in alcohol creates a medicinal tonic that enhances appetite, aids digestion, and relieves back and bone pain. Shaped like a heart, the lip balm seed, soaked in hot water, softens its tough shell, revealing the kernel inside, perfect for making thirst-quenching desserts, as delightful as ginseng drinks. Crushed fresh lip balm leaves are used to treat ringworm and itching. Boiled lip balm leaves have medicinal properties similar to the fruit. With its versatile medicinal uses, the lip balm tree is likened to Vietnam's 'Quinine.'
Lip balm fruits are about half a meter long, with segments tightly packed when eaten. To enjoy them, the peel on both sides is removed with a knife, and the remaining flesh is pushed back and forth with fingers several times to separate the fruit's grains. The lip balm fruit flesh is arranged into evenly thin and round segments, coated with a layer of black honey, with a sweet, slightly spicy taste and a distinctive aroma. Each segment contains a yellow seed on one side.
The lip balm tree is closely associated with the enduring love story of the Khmer people. She was clever, beautiful, and from a wealthy family. He was handsome and intelligent, but unfortunately poor, which hindered their love. They couldn't be together. Heartbroken, he left his homeland to wander.
Seeing him healthy, capable, and sought after by several matchmaking families who wanted him as a son-in-law (according to Khmer matrilineal system where daughters marry, sons stay home), but he refused them all because his heart belonged to her, even though they were apart, the longing never ceased. In the countryside, she grew weary of waiting, escaping her parents to find her lover.
She wandered and wandered... until exhausted, she collapsed by the roadside and died. Where she died, a strange tree sprouted, with a slightly whispering trunk, as dark as the Khmer people's skin, but its fruits as sweet as their resolute hearts. Especially, its flowers bloom in bright pink, symbolizing pure love and fidelity.
After three years, the tree still hadn't bloomed or borne fruit. One day, as he wandered while working as a laborer, he sat resting under a peculiar tree. The tree shivered, shedding its leaves, and tiny pale pink buds gradually grew larger, bursting into vivid pink blooms, as if years of suppressed emotions had finally found release.
Then the flowers bore fruits, swaying invitingly. He plucked one to taste, recognizing the sweet, intense flavor of his lover's kiss. Overwhelmed with sorrow and longing, he embraced the tree, calling out her name in anguish. He stopped, living beside the beloved tree, caring for it day by day. When asked the tree's name, he replied, 'Ô muôi.'
According to Khmer language, 'ô' means tree, 'muôi' means number 1, but when read incorrectly, it becomes ô môi. It means the number one tree, the foremost, the most important. For him, she was always number one, irreplaceable. Just like their feelings for each other.
Later, after moving many times, he carried ô môi seeds with him, planting them everywhere; to keep the two of them together, steadfast...
In the Southwest this season, ô môi fruits heavily adorn the branches. Inquiring to buy, homeowners casually reply, 'Take as many as you want, just come and pluck them from the trees. Harvest as much as you desire.'
During the subsidized period, ô môi fruits were a common gift from the countryside. Nowadays, occasionally sold outside markets, as cheap as can be, just a few thousand. For rural folks in the city, ô môi fruits are merely a nostalgic memory, reminiscent of the taste of home.
The beauty and versatility of these plants and flowers have long been overlooked. It's truly regrettable and even saddening. Some still chase after foreign, bulky plants, incurring unnecessary expenses.
In spring, the North has cherry blossoms, the Central and Southeast have apricot blossoms, but the Southwest must have lip balm flowers, also known as unique heralds of spring. While cherries and apricots are primarily ornamental, lip balm flowers offer additional medicinal benefits.
Rumor has it that Thanh Binh district and some areas in Dong Thap province are planning to revive, propagate, and plant more lip balm trees; as a distinctive characteristic representing the local people's spirit.
The scientific name of the lip balm tree is Cassia grandis, belonging to the Fabaceae family. It grows to a height of 10 - 20m, with large spreading branches, smooth bark, light brown hairs on young branches, and dark brown on older ones. Its compound leaves consist of 8 - 20 leaflets, oblong in shape with rounded ends, measuring 7 - 12cm long and 4 - 8cm wide, covered in fine hairs, glossy green, with prominent veins.
Clusters of flowers bloom abundantly after leaf fall, forming long sparse clusters. Bright pink flowers grow in clusters at the sites where leaves have fallen. The fruit is a slightly curved, flat cylinder, 40 - 60cm long, with a diameter of 3 - 4cm, containing 50 - 60 compartments, each containing a flat, hard, yellow seed surrounded by dark brown flesh, sweet in taste with a musky aroma.
Originating from South America, this tree is planted for shade and its beautiful flowers in many countries around the world.
In Vietnam, lip balm trees are primarily grown in the Southwest region.
The trunk of the lip balm tree is easy to use as firewood but difficult to split. In the past, the bride's family often tested the strength of the future groom by splitting lip balm wood. It required not only strength but also cleverness, understanding of physics principles, to pass the test and win the approval of the bride's family.
Source: Nguyen Van My/Tuoi tre
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Reference: Mytour Travel Guide
MytourMay 3rd, 2017
