MISCELLANEOUS NUTS. 273 



but in time the water softens them, after which they 

 sprout and grow when cast upon the shore by the waves. 

 The two species are distinguished mainly by the color of 

 the nuts, those of G. Bonduc being yellow, and those of 

 G. Bonducella gray, or with a reddish tint. Of no value 

 or use except as botanical curiosities. 



NITTA OR NUTTA NUT. The native African name 

 of the seeds of Parkia Africana, a tree of the sensitive- 

 tree section of the bean family (Leguminosce). It grows 

 about forty feet high, and has compound winged leaves. 

 It has become naturalized in the West Indies. The 

 pods grow in clusters, the seeds imbedded in a yellowish, 

 sweet pulp, like the carob or St. John's bread, and the 

 negroes are very fond of them. In the Soudan the seeds 

 are roasted, and then allowed to ferment in water until 

 they are soft and putrid, after which they are washed, 

 pounded and dried, then made up into cakes to be used 

 as a sauce for different kinds of food. It is supposed 

 that the African traveler, Mungo Park, first brought 

 these seeds or nuts to the notice of Europeans, and 

 Robert Brown named the genus Parkia in his honor. 



NUTMEG. A name applied to the fruits of a large 

 number of trees, and of different orders of plants. The 

 true nutmegs of commerce are the fruits of trees belong- 

 ing to the genus Myristica, and of the family Myristi- 

 cacece. The oldest and best known of these is the M. 

 fragrans, a small, widely branching tree, growing 

 twenty to twenty-five feet high, and supposed to be 

 indigenous to the Indian Archipelago. The fruit is 

 about the size of an ordinary walnut, with a thick rind, 

 which, upon opening, at maturity, discloses a reddish 

 aril covering the nut within. This aril or husk is the 

 mace of commerce, while the true nutmeg is the center 

 or hard seed (nut). The Brazil nutmeg is longer than 

 the true species, and is sold under the name of long nut- 

 meg, and is the fruit of M. fatua. Another species, the 

 18 



