Mother Durian Tree

I am told that this mother durian tree, that stands at the edge of a community rice plot, is over 100 years old. One afternoon my friend Peter led me through a freshly planted grove of trees to this one particular tree. A mother tree is typically a tree where people gather seeds for out-planting into surrounding forest areas or homegardens. These are special trees. Many areas of the forest are actually named by specific mother trees that inhabit an area. These names find there way into generations of stories. I’ve even seen mother trees where hunting partners have carved their own imprint deep into the tree bark; names of people and the forest mixing. I asked about who had the right to the fruit. Peter smiled. ‘We all share the fruit. Every single year,’ he told me.