MISCELLANEOUS FRUITS 



437 



red skin covers a pink flesh with a milky juice, which in flavor 

 is sweet but lacks character, although much praised by European 

 residents for use in making fruit salads." 



The name under which this fruit is known in Natal is ama- 

 tungula. In the United States it is called Natal-plum as well 

 as carissa. The bo- 

 tanical name Arduina 

 grandiflora, E. Mey., 

 is a synonym of Carissa 

 grandiflora. 



In Florida, the car- 

 issa is not generally 

 relished when eaten out 

 of hand. When stewed 

 it yields a sauce which 

 greatly resembles that 

 made from cranberries. 

 It is also used for jelly 

 and preserves. Ac- 

 cording to an analysis 

 made in Hawaii by 

 Alice R. Thompson, its 

 chief chemical constit- 

 uents are : Total solids 

 21.55 per cent, ash 

 0.43, acids 1.19, protein 

 0.56, total sugars 12.00, 

 fat 1.03, and fiber 0.91. 



FIG. 57. The carissa (Carissa grandiflora) is 

 a handsome shrub from South Africa, with fra- 

 grant white flowers and scarlet fruits whose fla- 

 vor suggests raspberries. (X \) 



The plant is not ex- 

 acting in its climatic requirements. It will grow in warm, 

 moist tropical regions, and in the dry subtropics wherever 

 the temperature rarely falls below 26 or 28 above zero. In 

 California it is sometimes injured by frost, but in southern 

 Florida this is rarely the case. It succeeds on soils of varying 



