330 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



f inch, and the spines are short, blunt, and stout, much swollen 

 near the base ; whereas the pericarp of the rambutan is rarely 

 more than J inch thick, and the spines are much longer and 

 taper uniformly toward the base. The flesh of the pulasan is 

 less juicy than that of the rambutan, sweeter, and of less 

 sprightly flavor. The size of the seeds is about the same in 

 both species. 



Other forms of the common name are kapoelasan, capulasan, 

 and pulassan. 



Like its congener the rambutan, the pulasan is probably suit- 

 able for cultivation only in 

 moist tropical regions. It 

 is not known to have been 

 grown to fruiting age any- 

 where in tropical America, 

 but there are many places 

 where it should succeed. 

 It is doubtful whether it 



FIG. 43. The pulasan (Nephelium muta- w {\\ d o so j n Florida, and 



bile), a relative of the litchi which is culti- ^ *. 



vated in the Malayan Archipelago. The California IS UnqUCStlon- 



translucent, white, subacid pulp adheres ably too COol and dry for it. 

 closely to a large seed. (X i) JL 



Harry H. Boyle says of 



the pulasan in Siam : " All the trees are propagated by marcot- 

 tage (air-layering), budding and grafting being unknown arts 

 in Siam. The flavor of some of the varieties is delicious and 

 many trees produce seedless fruit." 



THE AKEE (Plate XVIII) 

 (Blighia sapida, Koen.) 



Like the oil palm (Elceis guineensis), now common on the 

 coast of Brazil, the akee is an African plant which was brought 

 to America in the days of the slave trade. According to 

 William Harris, it reached Jamaica in 1778. It is now common 



