62 



ud fit for feeding purposes, being more or less poisonous 

 Pouteria sua vis, HemsL, of Uruguay, has edible fruits (K.U 



1906, pp. 365-366). 



Ebenaceae. 



Diospyros Kaki, Linn. ; Persimmon. 



A tree 30 to 40 ft. high, native of Japan; cultivated in France, 

 India, America, Philippines, China, &c. 



There are upwards of 100 varieties, of which there is a good 

 range of specimen fruits (50 varieties) in the Museum at Kew. 

 " In Central and Northern Japan the variety which produces 

 large orange-coloured ovate thick-skinned fruit is the only one 

 planted, and the cultivation of the red-fruited varieties is con- 

 fined to the south. " "The orange-coloured variety, fresh and 

 dried, is consumed in immense quantities by the Japanese, who 

 eat it as they do all their fruits, before it is ripe, and while 

 it has the texture and consistency of a paving stone." (Sargent, 

 For. PI. Japan, p. 50). Diospyros Roxburghii, Carr. is the 

 " Persimmon " of Western China and Eastern India. 



1. 191.1, "Persimmons," pp. 234-245. 



v . 



Monkey Guava *' or "Zanzibar Ebony" {D. mespiliformis , 



Hochst.), a shrub or tree 10 to 40 ft. high, of Tropical Africa, 

 has an edible fruit. 



It may be noted that some of the fruits of Diospyros are 

 poisonous, as, for instance, D. Ebenaster, Retz., with large 

 globose fruits, 3 in. in diam., olive or yellowish-green coloured 

 (K.B., 1915, p. 67), and to all outward appearances a "Kaki " 

 fruit. It is pounded and thrown into rivers to stupefy fish, in 

 order to catch them for food, in the West Indies. 



* 



Oleaceae. 

 Olea europaea, Linn.; Olive. 



A tree, native of Syria and Greece; cultivated in the 

 Mediterranean region, extending from Southern Spain to 

 Southern Russia, and also in California and Australia. 



The oil obtained from the pulp of the fruit is well known as a 

 salad oil, and it is also used in the tinning of sardines; the fresh 

 fruits are used for dessert. The imports of olive oil into the 

 United Kingdom in 1913 were for u Refined/' 0,103 tuns from 



France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Crete, and of "Un- 

 refined," 2,882 tuns, from the same countries, including the 

 Netherlands. 



BORAGINACEAE. 



Symphytum asperrimum, Donn,; Forage Comfrey, Prickly 

 Comfrey. 



Perennial, 4 ft. high, native of the Caucasus, grown as a 

 forage plant in Europe, including England (where it was intro- 

 duced more than a century a?o), and in America, recommended 

 as a soiling crop for pigs, sheep, and cows. 



