3074 



SAPODILLA 



SAPONARIA 



thing the trees bear heavily, and two crops a year are 

 frequently produced; this, with the natural variation 

 in season among seedling trees, results in ripe fruit being 

 found in the markets of tropical America at nearly all 

 times of the year. 



Experiments have shown that the sapodilla can 

 be shipped very successfully and without excessive 

 care in packing; notwithstanding the delicate texture 

 of the skin it keeps well, and if picked while still hard 

 can be kept in good condition for ten days or more. 

 Shipments have been made from the Florida Keys to 

 New York, the fruit being placed in small baskets 

 which hold half a dozen good-sized fruits, six of 

 these baskets being packed in a tomato-crate. For local 

 consumption or for shipping to short distances, the 

 common procedure in Florida is to pull the fruits from 

 the tree and throw them into boxes or baskets, in which 

 they are carried to market, where the ripe ones are 

 picked out and sold from day to day. The sapodilla is 

 used almost exclusively as a fresh fruit, usually eaten 

 out of hand, but is sometimes utilized in Brazil and 

 Cuba to prepare a delicious sherbet. Little is known of 

 its culinary possibilities. Due to its lack of acidity it is 

 doubtful whether it will lend itself to many differ- 

 ent uses. 



The sapodilla is generally propagated by seed, but the 

 variation among seedlings in productiveness as well as 

 in quality, size, and shape of fruit necessitates some 

 asexual means of propagation, if the most desirable 

 seedling forms are to be perpetuated. Horticulturists 

 have been as dilatory in applying vegetative propaga- 

 tion to the sapodilla as they have with most of the other 

 tropical fruits, but experiments in Florida have shown 

 that it can readily be budded, using as stocks seedlings 

 of the same species. 



Seeds, if kept dry, will retain then- vitality for several 

 years, and are easily transported through the mails to 

 any distance. They should be planted in shallow flats 

 of light sandy soil, covering them to the depth of Y^ 

 inch. In warm weather germination takes place within 

 a month, and the young seedlings, after they have 

 made their second leaves, can be potted off and carried 

 along in pots for the first year or two, when they are 

 ready to be set out in the open ground. If to be budded, 

 they may be planted in nursery rows about 3 feet 

 apart, 18 inches apart in the row. In south Florida, 

 May has proved to be a favorable season for budding; 

 in strictly tropical regions the work can probably be 

 done at any time, provided the stock plants are in 

 active growth. Budwood should be chosen from young 

 branches which have begun to lose their greenish color 

 and assume a brownish tinge, and should be carefully 

 examined to see that the eyes are well developed. 

 Shield-budding is the method used, the details being 

 practically the same as with the mango ; buds should be 

 cut slightly more than an inch in length, and the wood 

 removed if it comes out readily. After making the 

 incision in the stock, the bud should be inserted and 

 tied as promptly as possible, as the latex soon collects 

 around the incision and renders it difficult to do the 

 work properly. Waxed tape should be used for wrap- 

 ping. After three or four weeks the stock may be 

 headed back, and the wrap loosened, leaving the eye 

 exposed so that it may start into growth. 



Occasional seedlings produce fruits which are nearly or 

 quite seedless; some produce fruits weighing more than 

 a pound, while others do not weigh over two or three 

 ounces; some are unusually prolific, or ripen their 

 fruit at especially desirable times of the year. From 

 such seedlings one should select the best for propaga- 

 tion, having in mind the characteristics which it is most 

 desired to perpetuate. 



The tree seems to be remarkably free from insect pests 

 and fungous diseases, and in Florida requires very 

 little attention. While fertilizers are not commonly 

 employed, their judicious use will doubtless improve 



the size of the fruit and have a beneficial effect in 

 those frequent instances where the tree brings to 

 maturity so many fruits that some remain very small. 



F. W. POPENOE. 



SAPONARIA (Latin, soap, the mucilaginous juice 

 forming a lather with water) . Caryophyllacese. SOAP- 

 WORT. Hardy often coarse annual or perennial erect 

 or decumbent herbs, used for borders and rockeries. 



Habit either annual and resembling that of gyp- 

 sophila or perennial* and similar to that of silene: Ivs. 

 flat: fls. in dichotomous cymes; calyx ovoid or oblong- 

 tubular, 5-toothed, nerves obscure; petals 5, narrow- 

 clawed, blade entire or emarginate, the base with 

 scales or naked; stamens 10; ovary 1-celled: caps, ovoid 

 or oblong, very rarely subglobose. About 40 species, 

 Eu., principally the Medit. region and extra-Trop. 

 Asia. Saponarias are readily established in any soil and 

 require but little care. >S. ocymoides is an attractive 

 plant for the rockery or for edging. Prop, by seed or 

 division. 



A. Plants annual. 



B. Calyx 5-angled. 



Vaccaria, Linn. (Lychnis Vaccdria, Scop. Vaccaria vul- 

 garis, Hort.). COW-HERB. Annual: Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, 

 sessile: fls. paniculate, red; calyx pyramidal, 5-angled, 

 glabrous; bracts membranaceous, acute. July, Aug. Eu. 

 B.M. 2290. Var. alba, Hort., is a white-fld. form. 



BB. Calyx not 5-angled. 



calabrica, Guss. (S. multiflbra, Hort.). Annual, 

 divaricate-branched, pilose-viscous above: Ivs. opposite, 

 oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, attenuate to the petiole, 

 glabrous, ciliate at base: fls. in a dichotomous corym- 

 bose panicle, solitary in the axils, pale rose; calyx 

 cylindrical, segms. obtuse; petals entire, top orbiculate, 

 throat naked. Spring, Italy and Greece. Gn. 71, p. 

 78. Gt. 1:100. R.H. 1851:281. Var. alba, Hort. (S. 

 multiflbra alba, Hort.), is a form with white fls. There 

 are horticultural forms of this species offered in the 



trade under the names 

 of S. multiflbra compdcta 

 and S. multiflbra com- 

 pdcta alba. Seed should 

 be sown in autumn for 

 spring bloom or in April 

 for summer-flowering. 



AA. Plants perennial. 



B. Fls. yellow. 

 c. Lvs. linear: stamens 



violet. 



Ifitea, Linn. Cespi- 

 tose: sts. 3-6 in. high, 

 2-lvd. : Ivs. subradical, 

 linear, ciliate at base: fls. 

 yellow, in dense heads; 

 calyx round, hairy; 

 petals linear, crenate; 

 stamens violet. Eu. 



cc. Lvs. spatulate-oblong: 



stamens yellow. 

 bellidif olia, Smith. 

 Cespitose, glabrous: sts. 

 8-16 in. high: Ivs. spatu- 

 late-oblpng, attenuate to 

 the petiole; cauline Ivs. 

 few, linear-spatulate : fls. 

 yellow, sessile, congested 

 in a small head at the top 

 of the st. ; calyx subcylin- 

 drical, teeth triangular; 

 petals oblong-linear ; sta- 

 mens yellow: caps, ob- 

 3546. Saponaria officinalis. (X*$) long. S. Eu. to Greece. 



