Grandidier's baobabPhotos: Public domain (iNaturalist) (CC0) · Christopher Mark (CC BY 4.0) · Maria Janeiro (CC BY 4.0) on iNaturalist.
Tropical moist and dry forests · Zones 10–13
Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands
Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, the Comoros and Seychelles: islands of rainforest, dry spiny forest and reef found nowhere else.
Rainforest on the eastern escarpment, rice terraces on the central plateau, baobab avenues and spiny forest in the west and south, coral reefs and lagoons.
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Places in this region
Gardening
Rice, cassava, maize, beans and greens with the summer rains (November–April); vanilla, cloves, lychees and mangoes; the plateau is cool in winter.
About gardening guides →Fishing
Reef fish, trevally and tuna from the coasts; tilapia and black bass in the plateau lakes.
About fishing guides →Foraging
Lychees, mangoes and guavas gone wild, wild greens (brèdes), and the forest's fruits — much of the native flora is endemic and protected.
About foraging guides →In season now · October
What you can pick right now
5 wild edibles typically ready in October in Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather — check each one before you go.
FruitJune – OctoberTamarind
Tamarindus indica
A big, dense, evergreen tree with feathery leaves of many small paired leaflets (no single leaflet at the tip) and small yellow flowers streaked with orange or red. The fruit is a brown, slightly curved pod with a thin, brittle shell over sticky, brown, sweet-sour pulp and one to six glossy brown seeds; African pods are the short kind.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Maria Janeiro · CC BY 4.0
FruitMay – OctoberMonkey orange (green monkey orange)
Strychnos spinosa
A small, often spiny tree with opposite, rounded, glossy leaves showing three to five veins running from the base. The fruit is large, round and hard, with a woody shell that turns from green (often speckled) to yellow as it ripens; inside, many hard brown seeds packed in sweet-sour, brown, edible pulp.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Shaun Swanepoel · CC BY 4.0
GreenOctober – MarchSheep sorrel
Rumex acetosella
Small arrow-shaped leaves with two backward-pointing lobes at the base, on a wiry reddish stem. Sharply lemony taste.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Kieran Hanrahan · CC BY 4.0
GreenOctober – AprilBroadleaf plantain
Plantago major
A flat rosette of broad oval leaves with five or more deep parallel veins running end to end, and a narrow greenish flower spike. Tear a leaf slowly and the veins pull out as tough strings.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: lemonsnapp · CC BY 4.0
GreenApril – NovemberChickweed
Stellaria media
Sprawling mats with small opposite oval leaves and a single line of fine hairs running up one side of the stem, switching sides at each leaf pair. Stretch the stem: an elastic inner core.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Douglas Goldman · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. They show a typical specimen, not every variation — never identify from a photo alone. Confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager before you eat anything wild.
In the water now · October
What's biting
The sport fish active in Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands in October — where they hold, how to know one on the line, and the tactic that usually works. Check your licence and the current limits before you go.
FishYear-roundNile tilapia
Oreochromis niloticus
Deep-bodied and grey-brown with faint bars, and the tell: regular dark vertical stripes right across the tail fin. Breeding males turn reddish, especially on the fins.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Pål A. Olsvik · CC BY 4.0
FishSep–AprMozambique tilapia (blue kurper)
Oreochromis mossambicus
Deep-bodied and dull silvery-olive with a few dark blotches along the side and no regular stripes on the tail. Breeding males turn black with a white throat, red-edged fins and a pointed, duck-bill snout.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Wynand Uys · CC BY 4.0
FishYear-roundGiant trevally (GT)
Caranx ignobilis
A thick, powerful jack with a steep, blunt head, hard scutes along the base of the tail, and silver-grey to black colouring; mature males can be almost black.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Christopher Mark · CC BY 4.0
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 87 species are covered across North America, Europe and Africa.
In the garden now · October
Who else is working the garden
The insects and soil life out in Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands in October. Most of them are on your side — learn the few that aren't before you reach for anything.
PollinatorSep–AprHoney bee
Apis mellifera
Golden-brown, banded, furry thorax, and pollen packed onto the hind legs in visible baskets.
What it does in the garden →
PollinatorOct–MarHoverfly
Syrphidae
Wasp-striped but a true fly: two wings not four, huge eyes, and it hovers dead still in mid-air.
What it does in the garden →Photo: Anne Parker · CC BY 4.0
BeneficialOct–AprLady beetle
Coccinellidae
The adult everyone knows; the larva is the useful one — a spiky, alligator-shaped grey-and-orange creature that looks like a pest.
What it does in the garden →
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 87 species are covered across North America, Europe and Africa.
The weekly note for Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands
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Why Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands looks the way it does
Warmth and rain decide what can live in a place. The dial starts on the kind of land closest to this region — turn it warmer, colder, wetter or drier and see what would grow instead.
Temperate rainforest
Like coastal British Columbia
Mild and very wet: rain nearly all year — giant cedar trees, soft moss on everything, banana slugs and black bears.
Warmth and rain decide what can live in a place. They decide which plants can grow, and the plants decide which animals can live there.
Say it like this
- Age 2“Brrr, cold! Now make it hot. Now make it rain!”
- Age 4“Cold and dry makes tundra. Can you make a desert? Who lives there?”
- Age 6“Why can't a cactus grow in the rainforest, or a moose live in the desert? Warmth and rain decide what can live in a place.”
Go outside: Put a cup outside to catch the rain this week, and look at the thermometer each morning. Is your place warm or cool, wet or dry?
For Kids · The land and the sky