MISCELLANEOUS FRUITS 427 



Like the mangosteen it differs from many other tropical fruits in 

 being juicy and of aromatic subacid flavor, instead of richly 

 sweet. It is doubtless to this characteristic that it owes its 

 popularity among European travelers and residents in the 

 East. 



Like several other excellent Malayan fruits, the langsat 

 has not yet become generally cultivated outside of the Asiatic 

 tropics. Its introduction into the western hemisphere has been 

 accomplished, but it is only found as yet in a few botanic gardens 

 and private collections of rare plants. 



The tree is erect, symmetrical in form, usually somewhat 

 slender, and attains a height of 35 to 40 feet. Its pinnate 

 leaves are composed of five to seven 

 elliptic-oblong to obovate acuminate 

 leaflets 4 to 8 inches in length. The 

 small subsessile flowers are borne on 

 racemes or spikes arising from the larger 



, "...... FIG. 54. The duku, a 



branches. The fruit varies in form and variety of the langsat (Lan- 

 character, but is generally oval or sium domesticum) which 



j i * r> V _r i grows in the Malayan 



round, I to 2 inches in diameter, velvety Archipelago, (x }) 

 and straw-colored, with a thick leathery 



skin inclosing five segments of white, translucent, juicy, aromatic 

 flesh, and one to three large seeds. The tree is cultivated in 

 many islands of the Malay Archipelago and in the Philippines. 

 Regarding its importance in the latter region, P. J. Wester 

 writes : " The lanzone is extensively grown for the Manila mar- 

 ket in Laguna Province, east of Santa Cruz, and is also cultivated 

 to a considerable extent in Misamis, Zamboanga, the Sulu 

 Archipelago, and around Argao in Cebu." As indicated by 

 Wester's note the common name in the Philippines is lanzone 

 (often spelled lanzori). In the Malay Archipelago the forms 

 lansa and lanseh are sometimes seen, and also the nameayer-ayer. 

 While it is most commonly eaten out of hand, the culinary 

 uses of the fruit are several. The edible portion is said 



