354 BOTANY. 



It is a tree of low stature and very diffused growth. 

 The flower is large, white, and not unlike that of the 

 pear-tree. The fruit is produced while the tree is yet 

 very young ; it is oval, has a smooth pale-yellow ex- 

 terior, and often attains the size of a goose-egg ; its thin 

 rind invests a very dense pulp, within which there is a 

 cavity containing a globular mass of small hard seeds, 

 agglutinated together. The pulp has a pink colour, and 

 the odour of a strawberry ; its flavour is agreeable, and 

 the entire fruit may be eaten in very large quantities 

 without producing the slightest iD-effect on the health. 

 The Guava-pears produced on these islands are de- 

 cidedly superior, both in size and flavour, to those 

 grown in the vicinity of Madras and Calcutta, East In- 

 dies. The natives call the plant tuava, a slight corrup- 

 tion of its European name. 



Metrosideros Sp. Society Isles ; native name buaa 

 mape. 



M. polymorpha. Sandwich Isles ; native name ohia 

 leua. 



Rubus pinnatus. This bramble produces a profusion 

 of fine fruit, which is used for making an excellent 

 domestic wine. St. Helena. 



POLYANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 



Calophyllum inophyllum. This tree is the tamanu or 

 ati of the Society Islanders. It is more sturdy than 

 lofty in its growth, and is rendered conspicuous by its 

 heavy and sombre foliage. The flowers are borne in 

 large clusters, and have a pleasing appearance, their 

 white cup-shaped corolla being prettily contrasted with 



