292 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



flowers, and begin to ripen a second crop about a month after 

 the first, extending through early summer. In the second crop 

 only a limited number of fruits ripen at one time. 



In Brazil the plants bloom in September and ripen their 

 first crop in October, flowering again for the second crop in 

 December and January. Father Tavares says that the fruits 

 ripen at Bahia within three weeks from the appearance of the 

 flowers. In California the season is late summer. 



Under favorable conditions the pitanga is one of the most 

 prolific of fruits. The flowers, which are very fragrant, are 

 pollinated by bees and probably by other insects. The plants 

 must be watered liberally when the fruits begin to color, 

 otherwise the latter will remain small. 



Since the pitanga is rarely propagated vegetatively, no 

 horticultural varieties have been established. Nurserymen in 

 Florida have disseminated a seedling race under the name of 

 "black-fruited" which differs from the common form in being 

 deeper crimson in color and having a distinctive flavor. There 

 is considerable variation among seedlings of the common type 

 although they come sufficiently true from seed for this method 

 of propagation to be satisfactory. The size of the seed is not 

 always the same in proportion to the size of the fruit, and plants 

 have been observed in Brazil which normally produce larger 

 fruits than the average. Differences in productiveness have 

 also been noticed. It will be worth while, therefore, to perfect 

 means of grafting or budding this species so that the best seed- 

 ling forms can be propagated. 



THE FEIJOA (Plate XIV, Fig. 38) 



(Feijoa Sellowiana, Berg) 



Edouard Andre, one of the greatest French horticulturists 

 of the past century, took home with him when he returned from 

 a voyage to South America in 1890 plants of Feijoa Sellowiana, 



