LITTLE REGARDED WILD ERLTTS 



tiers, asimines — a Gallicized form of the Assiniboine 

 Indian name of the fruits. They are unquestionably 

 of some food value, though again tastes differ on the 

 point of their palatability. *' Edible for boys'^ is the 

 classing they get from one good authority; but, on 

 the other hand, the sweet, aromatic flavor is distinctly 

 pleasant to some maturer palates. Perhaps, as I 

 have heard it suggested, the divergence in views may 

 be due in some degree to the fact of different natural 

 varieties within the species. Our Papaw is a far- 

 strayed member of the tropical family that includes 

 the Anonas — the cherimoya, the sour-sop and the 

 custard apples. Another plant tribe of the tropics 

 that finds a small representation in the United 

 States is the Passion Flower familv, noted for its 

 remarkable blossoms in which the devout have 

 thought to see a perfect symbol of the Divine Pas- 

 sion. There is one species, commonly called Maypo}) 

 (Passiflora incarnata, L.), so frequent along fence 

 rows and in cultivated fields of the Southern States 

 as to be in the class of a weed. The fruit is a vol- 

 low, egg-shaped berry, a couple of inches long, ac- 

 counted edible, but more esteemed when made into 

 jelly than when eaten raw. Nevertheless to some 

 tastes the flavor is agreeable. I fancy it is to this 

 plant that John Muir refers in his "Thousand Mile 



101 



