Khmer Rouge Malaria Medicine

I don't have a pictures of flowers for this tree, only of its fruit. But the example in these photos is the first I have encountered, so at least I will document what I saw and learned in this poor area of Prey Veng.

I was drawn to the site by a not yet very coherent wish to visit as many of the Chenla-era temple sites that are near my travels across Cambodia. This site is in the Province of Prey Veng, but accessible from the town of Chupp along National Route Seven, across the Mekong from Kampong Cham provincial center. One map I have calls the site Prasat Chung Srok, another Preah Theat, Preah Srai.

So very little is left at the site, of what it might formerly have been. Portions of a wall remain, it is just not obvious what uses the remaining architecture had. (The wall is laid out like the fragments of a larger mosaic of rooms and hallways).

The tree almost stood out more than did the remnants of the "wall". At first glance it looked full of oranges. But a quick look at the fruit lying scattered on the ground showed that to be a false impression. Each fruit had a hardened shell inside of which disk-shapped seeds could be found in a white gelatinous surround. As the fruit dried out, it turns black, the gelatine disappears, and inside the small globe, you can find the white disks of the tree's seeds.

I spoke with an Achar seated nearby, at the base of the entrance to the more modern Wat that is located in what may have been the original center of this ancient complex.

He said the tree's seeds were collected during the Khmer Rouge period, dried and used as an antidote to malaria. He claimed that even today, if you came down with malaria, you could chew the seeds straight-out and recover. Who knows? I did collect a few to carry away with me. :-)