262 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



The tree, which is a native of the American tropics, was of early introduc- 

 tion into Hawaii and is rapidly "aining in favor as an island fruit with a pos- 

 sil)le connnercial future, which, however, has l;een somewhat interfered witli 

 through fruit (puirantine measures that prevent its shipment to California for 

 fear it may carry witli it the much-dreaded fruit-fly that has already established 

 itself in Hawaii. 



The earliest known account of the avocado is found in Oriedo's report to 

 Charles V. of Spain in ir)2t). At that time it was found growing wild in the 

 West Indies, doubtless having been introduced there from the continent of 

 Anici'ica. In varions places and in diverse ways the fruit has come to be known 

 under no fewer than tifty names, no one of which is less suitable than the ct)m- 

 inon English designation, since it is neither an alligator nor a pear, and more- 

 over the coml)ination of names is in no way pleasing, appetizing or appropriate. 

 The fruit is justly entitled to a characteristic name, and avocado seems suited 

 to the requirements. 



In 1860 it reached Tahiti, and must have been planted in Hawaii very soon 

 after that date. Trees about the city grow rapidly to a height of from twenty 

 to sixty feet, and are at once identified by their large dark-green leaves and 

 large pear-shaped, green and purple fruits, which contain a single large seed. 

 The avocado belongs to the Lauracece and has such distinguishing relatives as 

 the cinnamon, ^-^ camphor,^ ^ and sassafras,^ -^ all of which were introduced into 

 Hawaii mam- years ago, but the avocado is the only member of the family that 

 has been cultivated to any extent. As the fruit is usually grown from the seed, 

 the quality varies with the different trees. Now the ripe fruits have been suc- 

 cessfully shipped from Hawaii to New York and Washington, and as recent ex- 

 periments have proved that choice trees can be propagated by budding, there 

 is every reason to think that the avocado has a future before it, as it seems to be 

 reasonably free from the attacks of the fruit-fiy. Selected trees, sheltered from 

 the wind and with other conditions favorable, have yielded as many as 250 

 fruits to a tree, while the yield from exceptional trees has been more than a 

 thousand pears. 



Papaya. 



Like the foregoing, the papaya^*' is a native of tropical America, probably 

 Brazil, and is a fruit much esteemed in the islands. It is one of the commonest 

 fruits in many private yards, and considered as a fruit, vegetable, salad or 

 .simply as an ornamental plant, it is a general favorite. Its large, golden, melon- 

 shaped fruits and handsome, thrifty, green, palmate leaves render it a species 

 that attracts attention at once from strangers. 



By some the fruit is called papaw, a name which should perhaps be re- 

 served for the tree and fruit of AstDiiua trilola, which is a tree common through- 

 ont the southern Ignited States. It bears smooth, ol)long fruits that in no way 

 resemble the papaya of the tropics.- They are three or four inches long, banana- 



•' Cinnamrimvin Zeylaiiiriiin. '* CiiiiitiiiifHiiuin i-amiihoni. i" Saxxnfrnn nfficiiinle. 



'" Papaya ruJrjuris = Curira Papaya. 



