sturtevant's notes on edible plants 365 



Mimusops elata Allem. Sapotaceae. cow tree. 



Brazil. To this species is referred the massaranduba, or cow tree, of the Amazon. 

 Wallace ' says of it that the fruit is eatable and very good. It is the size of a small apple 

 and full of a rich milk which exudes in abundance when the bark is cut. The milk has 

 about the consistency of thick cream and, but for a very slight, peculiar taste, could 

 scarcely be distinguished from the genuine product of the cow. Bates ^ says the fruit 

 is eaten in Para, where it is sold in the streets. The milk is pleasant with coffee but has 

 a slight ranlBiess when drunk pure; it soon thickens to a glue which is excessively tenacious. 

 He was told that it was not safe to drink much of it. Hemdon ' probably refers to this 

 tree when he says he obtained from the Indians the milk of the cow tree, which they drink 

 fresh, and, when brought to him in a calabash, had a foamy appearance as if just drawn 

 from the cow and looked very rich and tempting. It, however, coagulates very soon and 

 becomes as hard and tenacious as glue. 



M. elengi Linn, medlar. 



East Indies and Malay. This plant is cultivated on account of its fragrant, star- 

 shaped flowers, which are used in garlands. The small, ovoid, one-seeded berry, , yellow 

 when ripe, about an inch long, is eaten, and oil is expressed from the seeds.'' Dutt ^ says 

 the fruits are sweetish and edible when ripe. 



M. hexandra Roxb. 



East Indies and south India. This plant is commonly cultivated near villages. In 

 Java, it is cultivated for its fruits which are eaten.' 



M. kauM Linn. 



Burma, Malay and Australia. This tree is found in gardens in Java. The fruit 

 is edible.' Dr. Hooker ' states that this tree is cultivated in China, Manila and Malabar 

 for its esculent, agreeably acid fruit. It is the khirnee of India.' 



M. kummel Bruce. 



Abyssinia. This is the M'nyemvee of interior Africa, a lofty tree whose one-stoned, 

 dry, orange-yellow or reddish fruit is sweet in taste.'" 



M, manilkara G. Don. 



Malabar and the Philippines. This species is cultivated for its fruit, which is of 

 the form and size of an olive and is succulent; the pulp is of a sweetish-acid flavor and 

 contains but one or two seeds." 



' Wallace, A. R. Trav. Amaz. 28. 1853. 



Bates, H.W. Nat. Amaz. Humboldt Z,i6r. 5ct. 635. 1879-80. 

 ' Hemdon, W. L., and Gibbon, L. Explor. Vail. Amaz. 1:227. 1854. 

 ' Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 293, 294. 1876. 

 ' Dutt, U. C. Mat. Med. Hindus 188. 1877. 

 Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 2^1 . 1876. (M.indica) 

 'Unger, F. U. S. Pal. Off. Rpt. 337. 1859. {M. balota) 

 Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 25$. 1874. 

 Ibid. 



"Speke, J. H. Journ. Disc. Source Nile 574. 1864. 

 " Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 4:35. 1838. 



