374 



VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 





The Akee — {Blighia sapida). 



a rich and slightly acid arillus (the outer coat of a 

 seed lightly attached to it), which is the part eaten. 



The Negro Peach, or Edible Peach. 



The tree on which the negro peach is produced is 

 very handsome, with lanceolate leaves, resembling 

 those of the orange. The flowers are white, and 

 grow closely clustered in little round heads, like 

 those of the American button-wood, so common in 

 shrubberies. The tree has flowered in the gardens 

 of the Horticultural Society, but has not borne fruit 

 in this country. The fruit is about the size of an 

 ordinarj' peach, but very different in colour and qua- 

 lities. Externally and internally it is brown, of vary- 

 ing shades : its form is irregular, and the whole 

 surface covered with tubercles. About one-third of 

 the diameter in the centre consists of a verv firm and 

 somewhat dry pulp, of a flavour resembling an apple. 

 Between that and the rind, the pulp is of softer con- 

 sistency, full of seeds and fibres, and has a flavour 

 resembling the strawbeny. 



