Value of the ‘Penny Piece’

THE EDITOR: With reference to the strange fruit “Penny Piece” by Julia Starr in your Thursday July 17, 2003 issue of the best newspaper Newsday, I can’t answer all of her questions about this fruit but I would just like to mention this.

I suppose any hunter who likes to “sentry” would know about this fruit. This is because “game” animals such as the agouti, lappe, deer and wild hog love to eat the seed of the “Penny Piece” fruit. The first time I saw a “Penny Piece” tree was in the year 1995 in the Madamas forest. This tree was approximately 20 feet in height. I saw two more trees in the forest just northeast of Mt Pleasant in Arima. I started hunting in 1994 and although it has not been consistent, I have never seen another tree other than those I mentioned above. I hope the bush fires we got over the years gone by have not destroyed these trees, for I hope to show my son what the “Penny Piece” tree looks like.

TERRENCE HILL
Arima