56 I HE USES OF PLANTS. 



this condition they contain 5/J per cent, of glucose, 

 17 J per cent, of water, 7 per cent of cellulose, 6 per 

 cent, of albuminoid matter, 5 per cent, of pectose 

 and gum, and 3 per cent, of starch,* and are, there- 

 fore, very nutritious. 



The petiole, or leaf-stalk, of the RHUBARB (Rheum 

 Rhaponticum, L.), a Siberian plant, cultivated in 

 England since 1628, and valued for its acidulous 

 taste, due to oxalates, is, of course, not a fruit ; but 

 is mentioned here as being eaten with sugar, and not, 

 as are those plants usually called ' vegetables/ with 

 salt 



CRANBERRIES (Oxycoccus palustris, Pers., and O. 

 macrocarpus, Pers.) are now largely imported, the 

 former from Russia, the latter mainly from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Berlin, Wisconsin, via Chicago. 



LlTCHlS (Nephelium Litchi, Camb.), the fruit of a 

 Sapindaceous tree, a native of China, cultivated in 

 India, now forms a regular article of import, selling at 

 3s. to 45. per lb., and LONGANS (N. Longana, Camb.) 

 are also occasionally seen. 



Among other less common fruits are the TAMA- 

 RIND (Tamarindus indica, L.), the pulpy seeds of a 

 Leguminous shrub, imported in a preserved state from 

 both the East and West Indies ; the GUAVA (Psidium 

 Guajava, L.), a Myrtaceous tree of Central America, 

 imported as jelly ; the MANGO (Mangifera indica, 

 L.), belonging to the Anacardiacece, eaten ripe in 

 India, but only unripe and pickled in this country ; 

 GRANADILLAS (Passiflora quadrangular is, L.) and 

 POMMES D'OR (P. maliformis, L.) from the West Indies ; 

 * Church, op. cit., p. 121. 



