402 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



The tree, which is one of the most beautiful and conspicuous 

 in the West Indies, reaches 60 feet in height. Its trunk some- 

 times attains a diameter of 3 or 4 feet, while the crown is of a 

 deeper and richer green than that of most other trees. The 

 leaves are oblong-obovate in form, rounded or blunt at the 

 apex, 4 to 8 inches long, and thick and glossy. The white 

 flowers, which are solitary or clustered in the axils of the young 

 shoots, are fragrant and about an inch broad. The petals are 

 four to six in number, the anthers numerous, and the stigma 

 peltate. The fruit is oblate to round in form, and commonly 

 4 to 6 inches in diameter. It has a slightly roughened russet 

 surface and a leathery skin about J inch thick. Surrounding 

 the one to four large seeds and often adhering to them is the 

 bright yellow flesh, juicy but of firm texture. The flavor is 

 subacid and pleasant, but the texture is so close that the fruit 

 is commonly thought better when stewed. 



The mamey is considered indigenous in the West Indies 

 and the northern part of South America. Outside of its native 

 region it is grown in Mexico and Central America, and occasion- 

 ally in other regions, but it has not become common anywhere 

 in the Orient, so far as is known. It is successfully cultivated in 

 southern Florida as far north as Palm Beach. Though not 

 common in this region, fine specimens are occasionally seen at 

 Miami and other places. It is not grown in California, being 

 too susceptible to frost for any part of that state. 



Mamey, the name by which this fruit was known to the first 

 Spanish settlers in the New World, is considered to have come 

 from the aboriginal language of the island of Santo Domingo. 

 From it have arisen the English common names mammee and 

 mammee-apple, both widely used in the West Indies. The 

 term mamey de Santo Domingo is sometimes used in Cuba and 

 other Spanish-speaking countries to distinguish the species 

 from the mamey Colorado or mamey zapote (Lucuma mammosa). 

 In southern Brazil it is known as abrico do Para (Para apricot). 

 The most usual French name is abricot de Saint Domingue. 



