112 SURVIVAL ON LAND AND SEA 
thoroughly cooked, either by boiling or roasting. A vine re- 
sembling the morning glory or the sweet potato frequently may 
be found in fresh-water swamps and ponds. The stems and 
young leaves of this plant make good greens when cooked. 
Salt water or brackish swamps are very extensive in the 
tropics along rivers near the sea and along the coasts. As 
previously mentioned, relatively few kinds of edible plants are 
to be found in such locations. The swamps along the rivers, 
however, do have nipa palms — a tree that has no trunk, its 
leaves rising in tufts around the “cabbage” just above the sur- 
face of the swamp — -that produce dense clusters of erect fruits, 
the immature seeds of which are edible. Nipa palm swamps 
often occur on the inland side of mangrove swamps. A climb- 
ing fern and a coarse tufted fern may be found in both kinds of 
swamps. These ferns are edible. 
Forests and Jungles 
Edible plants are generally less abundant in deep forests and 
jungles than in the locations discussed in the preceding pages. 
Those that are present often bear their fruits and other edible 
portions high out of reach. Palms are common but you may 
have to climb to reach the “cabbage.” Tree ferns with tender, 
coiled, young leaves and edible terminal buds may be found. 
The climbing palms or rattans (Pig. 14) have edible terminal 
shoots, although they may be high in the tree tops. 
The Durian (Fig. 35) is a large forest tree that bears excellent 
fruits about the size of a coconut. They are readily recognized 
by their odor which is very strong and fetid, and has been # 
likened to that coming from decayed onions. The fruit is round 
