Tripatini contributor Keith Kellett writes:

"Our guide Eric reached up from the boat, and plucked what looked like a seed pod from an overhanging branch. He stripped away the outer layer, much as you’d peel a banana, to reveal a beautiful red and white flower. It reminded me of one of those fibre-optic lamps back in the 70s … or maybe one of those floaty things in the film Avatar.

I’m sure I wrote the name down somewhere, but when I got home, I couldn’t find it. But, not to worry; our tour group formed a WhatsApp group, and on it is someone who knows Eric, who quickly supplied the botanical name Pachira aquatica.

Further research revealed it’s known by many other names; the malabar chestnut, the French peanut, the Guiana chestnut, the money tree, the provision tree and one or two others. But, there seems to be a much more common name. It’s supposed to have been coined when it became highly prized as a house plant, and much money was - indeed, the first page of Google was devoted to people trying to sell me one - and fortunes were made. So I was delighted to find that, contrary to the claims of our politicians, a ´money tree´ does exist after all!"

Read more in his post A Costa Rica Eco-Excursion to La Fortuna and Beyond.