Pithecellobium dulce

A tree native from Mexico to Guyana and Peru, it belongs to the Fabaceae family and grows in seasonally dry tropical habitats. Its twigs bear paired spines at the bases of the leaf stalks. Each compound leaf has two branches, each carrying two leaflets. Small, cream-white flowers grow in rounded heads. The pods coil and turn red or brown as they mature, then split open to expose glossy black seeds partly covered by sweet, edible white or pink arils. Photographed in Cartagena, Colombia.