334 



The Journal of Heredity 



In addition to the gnnes of Lii Cap- 

 ilia, I have seen cherimoya trees, in 

 great profusion, on the slopes above the 

 Rio de las Playas (farther down stream 

 called the Casanga), between Cangona- 

 ma and Catacocha. This region is not 

 far from La Capilla, and like the latter 

 is almost within sight of Peru. Since 

 there is no change in the character of 

 the country, nor, I believe, that of the 

 vegetation at the boundary line be- 

 tween the two republics, I consider it 

 altogether probable that the species 

 occurs in the extreme northern part of 

 Peru ; and in this I am supported by the 

 Sres. Carlos and Ramon Eguiguren of 

 Loja, who assure me that they have 

 there seen small groves of wild chcri- 

 moyas. 



The zone of elevation in which the 

 tree occurs is narrow. Wolf observed it 

 between 5,800 and 6,500 feet; I have 

 seen it as low as 4,700 feet, tliough not 

 in great profusion, and as high as 6,000 

 feet. The larger groves seen by me 

 were all at elevations between 5,000 

 and 6,000 feet. 



TREES ABUNDANT IN VALLEYS 



The situations in which the trees are 

 most commonly found, so far as I 

 have observed, are the slopes or sides 

 of small ravines, and the occasional bits 

 of alluvial land which are formed 

 in the narrow mountain valleys. The 

 valley soils seem to be preferred by the 

 cherimoya, and such lands also appear 

 to produce the largest trees; neverthe- 

 less it is not rare lo fuid scattered speci- 

 mens on clay slopes of somewhat rocky 

 character. The climate of this part of 

 Ecuador is warm, as indicated by the 

 elevation, yet it is not hot as it is in 

 the coastal lowlands. Sugar cane is cul- 

 tivated (though not extensively), and 

 around the occasional huts of the 

 natives there are orange and avocado 

 trees, bananas, and a few food cro|)s 

 such as corn and yuca {Manihot utilis- 

 sima). The climate is less moist than 

 that of Loja. There is a dry season, 

 rather severe I imagine, which extends 

 from May or Jime to October or 

 No\ember. 



Cherimoya trees here reach 25 feet in 

 height, occasionally 30 feet or slightly 

 more. Often they divide at the ground 

 and have three or four main stems. 

 There is a fungous disease which at- 

 tacks a great many of the trees, forming 

 round black spots on the leaves, at 

 length causing them to turn yellow and 

 fall. 



The fruits ripun from October to 

 March, the season being at its height 

 in January and February. It is said 

 that the trees fail to bear when there 

 are no rains in October. Their pro- 

 ductiveness is probably not great, even 

 under the most favorable conditions of 

 weather and soil. P^xperience with 

 cultivated trees would lead us to expect 

 that such would be the case. Because 

 of the immense number of trees in this 

 region, and the very few people present 

 to consume the fruit, cherimoyas are 

 extremely abundant in the months of 

 January and February, and the hogs 

 are said to fatten upon them. The 

 largest and best specimens are sent to 

 Loja for sale; the remainder, with the 

 exception of the few which can be 

 consuined by the people, are either 

 eaten by the hogs or allowed to rot 

 on the ground. 



CULTIVATED FRUITS NOT MATERIALLY 

 DIFFERENT FROM WILD ONES 



The immature fruits are commonly 

 attacked by an insect whose white 

 larvae, about one-fourth of an inch 

 long, burrow through the Hesh and 

 eventually out through the skin, leav- 

 ing a round hole in the surface. Only 

 a few ripe fruits were available at the 

 time of my visit, but there was an 

 abundance of immature ones. I was 

 interested to see if the various types 

 which we recognize in cultivation, 

 accordingly as the surface is smooth 

 or rough, were to be found upon the 

 wild trees. They were. In the numer- 

 ous specimens examined, the surface 

 was most commonly smooth, with the 

 carpeilary areas marked by raised lines, 

 but there were also, in limited numbers, 

 most of the other types with which we 

 are familiar in California. I did not 

 tind the manunillate form. The type 



