ALLIGATOR OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 9 



Manilla tamarinds. Prosopis glandulosa is an allied species ; 

 native of Texas, Colorado, and other parts of the Western 

 States, where it occupies vast tracts of country, and is known by 

 the natives as the Mesquit tree. It attains the height of 30 

 feet, and a diameter of 4 to 10 inches. Its wood is very hard and 

 durable, and well adapted for posts and other open-air purposes. 

 It yields a gum nearly equal to gum arable, which may be 

 collected in great abundance. It becomes white and semi- 

 transparent on exposure to the light. The pod is long, of the 

 form of the common bean, and contains a sweet mucilage, which 

 by fermentation and boiling furnishes a not unpleasant drink. 

 A meal is prepared by pounding the seeds or beans, wliich, 

 mixed with water, is made into a paste, then dried in the sun, 

 when it is used as an article of food, and will keep for a con- 

 siderable time. Another species, P, pubesceTis, is called the 

 Screw Bean, on account of its twisted pods, which also con- 

 tain a sweet pulp so full of saccharine matter that by boiling a 

 kind of molasses is obtained. The pods of these trees form an 

 important article of food to the native Indians in the places 

 where they grow, and are eagerly devoured by cattle. Conse- 

 quent on the yearly prairie fires, vast destruction has befallen 

 forests of these trees, especially west of the Colorado. 

 Algum, Tree of Scripture. {See Sandal- wood.) 

 Alkanet {Anchusa tinctoria), a strong-growing perennial of 

 the Borage family (Boraginacese), with pretty blue flowers, native 

 of the South of Europe, and cultivated in many parts for its roots, 

 which are imported from France and Germany. They yield a 

 red dye, and other colours are obtained by different mordants. 

 The red colour of the roots is readily extracted by alcohol. 

 All-heal. (See Valerian.) 



Alligator Apple, a name in the West Indies for the fruit of 

 Anona palustris, a small tree of the Custard Apple family 

 (Anonacese). It is common in low lands near the sea, in many 

 of the islands near the Continent, and in tropical America. Its 

 fruit is not palatable to man, but alligators are extremely fond 

 of it, hence its name. 



