HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



Anona muricata, which has a slight agreeable acid flavor. In the mammee 

 apple, Mammea Americana, a member of the gamboge family, Clusiaccae, 

 we have another tropical American fruit. The tree from which this fruit 

 is derived grows 60-70 feet tall. The fruit is the size of a small melon or 

 cocoanut. 



The aroid family, Araceae, does not yield many edible fruits, but in 

 Monstera deliciosa we have one. This fruit is known s ceriman and piiia 

 anona. It is a native of Mexico. The fruit is 6-8 inches long and not unlike 

 a pine cone in shape. When ripe it tastes and smells very much like the pine 

 apple. In Manihot Manihot, a member of the spurge family, Euphorbia- 

 ceae, we have another plant, from the roots of which is manufactured cas- 

 sava. The juice is milky and exceedingly poisonous from the presence of 

 hydrocyanic acid. This acid must first be extracted, and from the remaining 

 tissue is eventually made tapioca. 



There is another tree in tropical America of great importance, and while 

 it does not yield a single economic product, it is the means by which many 

 useful plants are enabled to thrive. It is the mangrove, Rhizophora Mangle, 

 to which allusion is made. It lines the shores in many places, and by its 

 action in extending the shore line many hundreds of acres of rich arable 

 land have been added to the available soil in tropical America. A series of 

 photographs illustrating how the mangrove does this were exhibited on the 

 screen. Slides illustrating the other economic plants referred to were also 

 shown. 



35 



