KEY TO THE VARIETIES. 97 



♦♦ Fruit not si»lu'ri(iil or nearly so. 



*** Fruit at k-ast :> nun. short«>r tlinu twice the width. 



I'.road soft dates. 

 **** Flesh (lark rolmril. very soft and sii'upy. date not keeping 

 its shape well when ripi'. 



Sirupy hroad soft dati's. pp. DD-KU). 

 **** Flesh rather lirni. not sirupy. date keei)iiig its shape well 



wlien ripe Fii'ui broad soft dales, pji. p)()-1()1, 



*** Fruit at least ;*> nini. longer than twice thi> width. 



Narrow soft dates, pp. lol-loj. 



*** Fruit about twice as long as wide Intermediate soft dates. 



**** Decidedly wider near the apex than at base. 



(Ibovate intermediate soft dates, p. 103. 

 **** Decidedly wider at the base than near the apex. tai»ering 

 from near or below the nudille to the ajiex. 



Ovate intermediate soft dates, pp. UK] to 105. 

 **** As wide or nearly as wide at the apex as at the base, either 

 widest at or near the middle or else of about the same 

 width throughout . 



Oblong intermediate soft dates, pp. Kt.j-KH). 



2. Key to the Varieties. 



Dry Dates, 

 smooth-skinned dry d.\tes. 



Fruit only 2-'i nnii. Joiiii (smallest of the Tunisian varieties), about 11.5 mm. tvide, 

 ovate or obovate. bright bay (IV. o) when ripe, the skin <»chraceous (V, 

 7) to cinnamon rufous {l\. KI) ; flcsJi .L'> )iiiii. thick, becoming hard and 

 dry, n)ore than one-half of it consisting of th(> white central p.irtion; 

 seed IS mm. long, about 9 nun. wide, smooth, drab brown (III. 18), the 

 ventral channel narrow, open, the germ pore generally considerably 

 above the middle: giant cells in a shari)ly defined zone forming alnjut 

 one-half the thickness of the dark outer part of the tiesh. very small, 

 nearly all rounded, rarely more than lA tim(>s .-is long as wide, mostly 

 spherical but some ellii)tical and jtear-shaped, orange colored; hriiiicJies 

 of the fruit clufitcr.s hrif/ht {lemon) yelloir Anyoo (p. 74). 



Fruit 3.7 to -'id nun. loini. alioitt onr-lialf «.s- tridc. often slightly wider just above 

 the middle than elsewhere, then narrowed to the truncate or blunt- 

 pointed apex, dull bay (IV. .")) colored when rii>e. the skin rufous (IV. 7) 

 to hazel (IV. V2) colored: flrsJi .j to -) nun. thick, not becoming very dry; 

 seed 21 to 25 mm. long, one-third to two-fifths as wide, rounded at both 

 ends, Isabella brown (III, 23) in color, the ventral channel narrow, open, 

 the germ pore above the middle ; giant cells very uniform in size and 

 shape, sjilierical or nearly so, rufous (IV, 7) colored; In-nncJiCH of the 

 fruit clusters liijlit oranye Kenta (p. 73). 



WRINKLED DRY DATES. 



Fruit olHivt 32.0 mm. long, three-fifths to tiro-thirds as vide, ovate in outline, 

 dull orange yellow before maturity, puriilish maroon (IV. 2) or bay 

 (IV. 5) colored when ripe: tiesh 3 mm. thick, the white central i)ortion 

 mucli thicker than the dark outer zone ; " seed averaging 20 mm. long 

 and 10 }»?». 7r/fZc. Isabella brown (III. 23), the ventral channel wide, open, 

 the fierm pore near the ape.r of tlie seed, conspicuous; (liiuit ceils very 

 small, all rounded, nearh/ iili spiierieai, orange rufous (IV, 13) in color; 

 branches of the fruit clusters pale orange Bai/joo (p. 83). 



Fruit onlij aliout tirice us ioiui us iride. 



a Although in fruits cut open several weeks after gathering tlie converse ap- 

 pears to be true, owing to the suffusion of the white zone with sirup from the 

 dark portion. 



30618— No. 92—06 7 



