10 



THE FLORIST. 



Among a number of encomiums which have been passed on the 

 Mangosteen by different authors who have eaten the fruit, Lord 

 I\Iacartney, in his '* Embassy to the Emperor of China," speaking of 

 Java, says : 



" The whole country is richly stored with the choicest fruits, which, 

 like all places within the tropics, are gathered throughout the whole 

 year. The Mangosteen, about the size of a Nonpareil, accounted the 

 most delicious of all, was ripe in March. Its rind thick and firm, of a 

 dark colour, contains from five to seven seeds, of which the pulp that 

 covers them is the only part eaten. It has a delicate, subacid taste, 

 differing a little from, but far preferable to the same kind of pulpy 

 substance which encloses the Sour-sop of the West Indies." 



Dr. Lindley, in his " Vegetable Kingdom," says : " Garcinia Man- 

 gostana has the reputation of being the finest of all fruits ; it resembles 

 a middle sized orange, and is filled with a sweet and most delightful 

 pulp. It is generally thought that this tree will not thrive beyond the 

 hot and damp atmosphere of Malacca, but Dr. Wight states that it has 

 been introduced into the gardens of Courtullam, where it had already 

 begun to bear, in the year 1840." 



The INIangosteen was first introduced to our stoves in 1789- It is a 

 native of the IMoluccas, from whence it has found its way to the neigh- 

 bouring islands, more particularly Sumatra and Java, where it is much 

 cultivated, not only for its fruit but for its fine appearance as an orna- 

 mental tree. Like many other fruits which have not been subjected to 



