RELATIVES OF THE MANGO 157 



high terms. More recently, however, it has been likened to a 

 "very bad mango," and several writers have adjudged that it 

 did not merit cultivation. Much depends on the variety ; while 

 the average may be poor, an occasional one is good. Only 

 superior kinds propagated by some vegetative means should be 

 planted. As yet no attempt has been made to find the best 

 varieties and establish them as horticultural forms. 



THE RED MOMBIN (Plate VII) 

 (Spondias Mombin, L.) 



No other species of Spondias is so extensively used in tropical 

 America as this. In many parts of Mexico and Central America 

 it is a fruit of the first importance. It occurs in a wide range 

 of seedling races or forms, and is capable of great improvement 

 by selection and vegetative propagation. While scarcely so 

 good as the imbu, the better varieties are pleasantly flavored 

 and attractive in appearance. 



The red mombin is a small tree, often spreading in habit. 

 The trunk is thick and the branches are stout and stiff. Its 

 native home is tropical America, where it reaches a maximum 

 height of about 25 feet. The leaves are 5 to 8 inches long, 

 with 16 to 21 oblong-elliptic, oblique, subserrate leaflets 1 

 inch to 1^ inches in length. The purplish maroon flowers are 

 produced in small unbranched racemes about inch long. 



The fruits, borne singly or in clusters of two or three, are 

 quite variable in size and form. Commonly they are oval or 

 roundish, but they may be oblong, obovoid, or somewhat pyri- 

 form. They range from 1 to 2 inches in length, and from yellow 

 to deep red in color. The seed is oblong, ^ to J inch long, and 

 rough on the surface. The season of ripening in most parts of 

 tropical America is August to November. 



In most Spanish-speaking countries this species is known as 

 cimela (plum), a name which has been corrupted in the Philip- 



