OTHER MINOR SEMI-TROPICALS 403 



THE TREE TOMATO 



This plant (Cyphomandra betacea) is a native of Central America 

 and is of shrubbery habit, growing five or six feet high, with large, 

 shining leaves, often a foot long. The flowers are fragrant, of a pale 

 flesh color, with yellow stamens, and are followed by fruit the shape 

 and size of a duck's egg, at first of a purple tint, but gradually assuming 

 a warm, reddish color as it ripens. When ripe the fruit may be used 

 raw as a tomato is. If the skin is removed and the fruit stewed with 

 sugar, it has a slight sub-acid flavor which is very refreshing. It 

 makes a fine jelly. The plants bear the second year from the seed and 

 the fruit ripens continuously for several months. The seeds should be 

 started just as are those of the common tomato, and the plants set out 

 eight or ten feet apart. 



THE KAI APPLE 



This name is applied to the fruit of Aberia Caffra, a native of Natal 

 and Kaffaria, a tall shrub, yielding an edible fruit of a golden yellow 

 color, about an inch in diameter. It is commended as a hedge plant, as 

 it is densely clothed with strong dry spines. The leaves are small and 

 of a rich green hue. The fruit, which is produced freely in the warmer 

 parts of the State, is chiefly used for making preserves. 



OTHER FRUITS 



The foregoing enumeration does not include all the exotic fruits 

 which have found a place in California soil. There are many more, 

 some of which are demonstrating their fitness to add to the graces or 

 the gains of our horticultural life. The caricas, carissas, eugenias, 

 hovenia, etc., are all gaining places in California gardens. Even the 

 more strictly tropical mango, the monstera, sapodilla and the like are 

 claiming the attention of amateurs. Of the mango in southern Cali-. 

 fornia the best account is by F. W. Popenoe, Altadena. 



