518 



USEFUL PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS 



Tea is made from the leaves of a shrub long cultivated iii 

 China and Japan, and now also in India, Ceylon, and elsewhere. 

 Unlike chocolate, tea has no food value, but is a mild stimulant. 

 Coffee is made from the seeds of a small tree widely culti- 

 vated in hot countries and belonging to the madder family. 



The seeds are pro- 

 duced in red ber- 

 ries, which are 

 thickly clustered 

 about the twigs of 

 the tree. Coffee 

 has only a trifling 

 food value, but is 

 a vigorous stimu- 

 lant, reenforcing 

 the action of the 

 heart. 



495. Fruits 

 with fleshy pulp. 

 The kinds of fruit 

 with fleshy pulp, 

 some eaten raw 

 and others requir- 

 ing cooking, are 

 so numerous that 

 they can only be 

 mentioned under 

 the families to 

 which they belong. 

 From the palms are obtained dates, which are technically 

 berries with a very hard seed. In the arid portions of Africa 

 and northwestern Asia, where they grow, they are of the first 

 importance as food. Successful attempts are now in progress 

 to introduce the culture of the date palm into the desert regions 

 of the extreme southwestern United States. 



s 



FIG. 385. A flowering twig of the coffee tree 



Two thirds natural size, with fruit / and fs and seeds s, 

 natural size. After Wossidlo 



