322 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 2 



large palmate leaves at whose base the delicious, juicy " melons " 

 are produced. These green-colored fruits are ovoid or round, 8 to 

 14 inches in length, 4 to 6 inches in diameter, and weigh from 5 

 to 10 pounds. One of the remarkable virtues of the tropical pawpaw 

 is that it is in season the year round. Macmillan says of it : 



The fruit has a central cavity, to the walls of which the olive-colored seeds 

 are attached, usually in great abundance, but sometimes entirely absent. The 

 succulent flesh is of a pinkish or orange tint, very refreshing and agreeable 

 to the taste, especially on first acquaintance. It is generally esteemed as a 

 table fruit, and is considered an aid to digestion. Some people prefer to 

 eat it with a little sugar and fresh lemon or lime juice. It may also be made 

 into jam or sauce, and in the unripe state may be pickled, or boiled and used 

 as a vegetable. The seeds have a flavor like that of water cress. Papaine, 

 a digestive enzyme, valued in medicine and in the preparation of chewing gum, 

 etc., is obtained from the white, thin latex or juice. 



The mangosteen {Garcinia mangostana) originated in the Malay 

 States, but is now generally cultivated in India and Ceylon. This 

 is one of the most delicate fruits of the Tropics and I enthusiastically 

 indorse the claim that it partakes of the combined jflavor of the straw- 

 berry and the grape. The tree is of small size and slow growth; 

 the leaves large and leathery. The globular, purple-brown, smooth 

 fruit looks like a small apple whose white, melting pulp surrounds 

 several large seeds, the whole contained in a thick, inedible covering. 

 This fruit is rather expensive, is regarded as a great delicacy, and 

 is generally in season from May to July. Its cultivation (usually 

 by seed) ought to be attempted as a delicious novelty in semitropical 

 America. 



The sugar-apple or sweet-sop {Aiiona squamosa) deserves men- 

 tion as a candidate for domestic adoption in the warmer climates of 

 North America. It originated in South America, where it is exten- 

 sively cultivated, although little known north of the Mexican border. 

 The tree, a small species, thrives in any ordinary, well-drained soil 

 up to 3,500 feet and its fruit, maturing twice a year, generally in 

 October and April, is the size and shape of a large apple whose yel- 

 lowish-white, scaly or tubercular rind incloses a sweet, granular, 

 custardlike pulp. There is also a purplish colored variety found in 

 the West Indies. 



It is passing strange that with so many varieties found in all 

 tropical countries and probably suitable for domestication in most 

 temperate climates that the useful mango is not more generally culti- 

 vated. The commonest species in India, where it is indigenous, is 

 Mangifera indica, a large, quick-growing and wide-spreading tree 

 whose panicles of scented, greenish- white flowers appear in January 

 to March, the fruit in April to June thereafter. Some trees bear two 

 crops a year. The ovoid fruit, flattened, with a distinct beck or 

 projection at the apex, may w^eigh 2 pounds or more, but the usual 



