OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1916. 105 



43959 to 43963— Continued. 



Both white and black olives are a good deal grown around Wampoa. 

 Since I have seen none in the immediate neighborhood of Canton nor 

 in Hongkong and their cultivation is therefore apparently local, I can gain 

 no intelligence of their occurrence in a wild state. They are trees 20 to 

 30 feet high, with a whitish trunk, and a close, round crown of foliage, 

 which in hot sunny days exhale a pleasant balsamic odor, in which 

 respect, as well as in general aspect, they resemble our common walnut. 

 The two species, though perfectly distinct, are singularly alike. 



I should remark that, when dried, the leaves of both species have the 

 veinlets prominent, but the network is much closer and finer in those 

 of the " white olive." The " white olive " is either eaten fresh, in which 

 state its strongly resinous flavor renders it disagreeable to the European 

 palate, or is placed when quite ripe in tubs filled with salt, stirred about 

 continually, and after the lapse of a day taken out and dried. In this 

 state it is hawked about in great abundance. It tastes much as the Eu- 

 ropean olive might be expected to do if removed from the brine in which 

 it is kept and allowed to dry, with an appreciable soupgon of turpentine 

 superadded. I have been told it is regarded as a preventive of sea- 

 sickness. The " black olive " is never eaten raw, but only after having 

 been steeped for a few moments in boiling water. Thus prepared (and 

 packed in jars, with the addition of a little salt, when desired to be 

 preserved) it is of a fine purplish red color, like well-made freshly 

 pickled mango. This fruit is held in much higher esteem than the other, 

 and it is usual to keep a strict watch over it as it ripens, to prevent 

 depredation. I have seen a man who was found luxuriating in the umbra- 

 geous coma of a tree to which he could lay no claim, with a basket full 

 '' of fruit in his possession, tied " spread eagle " fashion to the trunk for 

 nearly a day, the monotony of his durance being varied by periodical 

 flagellations. (Adapted from Eance, in Journal of Botany, British and 

 Foreign, vol. 9, pp. 38, 39.) 



43959. Canabium album (Lour.) DC. 



" Canarium fruits are commonly sold in Canton. This species is 

 less expensive than the large one, C. pimela. The pericarp is eaten. 

 They are pickled by the Chinese ; I have seen them among imported 

 Chinese foodstuffs in Manila." (Merrill.) 



43960. Canarium pimela Koen. 



" This species has a fleshy pericarp which is eaten. The seeds are 



also said to be edible. They are pickled by the Chinese ; I have seen 



them among imported Chinese foodstuffs in Manila." (Merrill.) 



43961. CiTEUS aueantifolia (Christm.) Swingle. Rutacese. Lime. 



A small tree, with irregular branches, found in all tropical countries, 



often in a semiwild condition. It has very sharp, short, stiff spines, 



small, rather pale green leaves, small white flow^ers, and an oval or round 



greenish yellow fruit from li to 2i inches in diameter, with thin skin 



and very acid pulp. Large quantities of limes are shipped to the United 



States from the AVest Indies- for making limeade, and the lime juice is 



shipped bottled from Montserrat and Dominica in the West Indies. The 



juice is said to prevent scurvy, and hence is often carried on ships making 



long voyages. The trees are very sensitive to frost, and they are usually 



cultivated from seeds. (Adapted from Bailey, Standard Cyclopedia of 



Horticulture, vol. 2, p. 782.) 



