BOOK I. 



EXOTIC FRUITS LITTLE KNOWN. 



781 



edible fruits, held in considerable esteem in the West 

 Indies, and with the Malay apple appear to deserve culture 

 in this country. (See Miller's Diet.} 



5988. The custard-apple (Anona reticulata), alligator. apple 

 (A. palustris), sweetsop (A. squamosa), and soursop (A. mu- 

 ricata], are esteemed West Indian fruits ; and the Chere- 

 moyer (A. tripetala), the Cherimolia of some botanists, is the 

 fruit most prized by the natives of Brazil and Peru. All 

 these plants are already in our stoves, and might easily be 

 cultivated as fruit-trees. 



5989. The mammee-tree (Mammea americana, L.) 

 Polyan, Monog. L. and Guttiferee, J. is a tall handsome 

 tree, with oval, shining, leathery leaves, and one-flowered 

 peduncles, producing sweet white flowers an inch and a half 

 in diameter, succeeded by roundish fruit, about the size af 

 an egg, and in pulp and taste not unlike the apricot. It is 

 eaten raw alone, or cut in slices with wine and sugar, or 

 preserved in sugar. It is a native of the Caribbee Islands, 

 and was cultivated in 1739 by Miller. 



5990. Propagation and culture. It may be raised from 

 the stones or seeds, and treated like other stove fruit-trees. 

 It has been cultivated by Knight, who found it rather im- 

 patient of a very high temperature. (Hort. Trans, iii. 464*) 



5991. The lee-chee and long^yen. The lec-chee is the 

 Dimocarpus Litchi, W. (Lam. ill. t. 306.) Octan. Monog. L. 

 and Sapindi, J. It is a stove tree, with compound leaves, 



not unlike those of the common ash-tree ; a native of China, and introduced in 1786. The fruit is a berry 

 of a red color when ripe, except in one variety, which remains green : it fs much esteemed by Europeans. 



5992. The long-yen is the 7). Longan, H. K. (Buck. Ic. t. 99.) The tree resembles the former, but the 

 fruit is not so larg'e, and is of a light-brown color. " In both species the pulp of the fruit is surrounded 

 with a tough, thin, leathery coat ; it is a colorless, semi-transparent substance ; in the centre of which is 

 a dark-brown seed of different sizes in the different varieties. The flavor of the pulp is slightly sweet, sub- 

 acid, and particularly pleasant to the taste in a warm climate. The fruit of the lee-chee, dried either in 

 the sun or by fire-heat, is frequently brought to England from China. In this state the pulp is shrivelled 

 and reduced within the coat, or shell, to half its usual size, and has a rich and sweet taste, if it has been 

 well preserved. The fruit of the long-yen has been ripened by John Knight, Esq. of Lee Castle, in a lofty 

 stove, erected for the purpose of growing tropical fruits ; and a bunch was presented by him to the Hort. 

 Society, in September, 1816, supposed to be the only one ever produced in Europe, and which persons 

 well acquainted with the long-yen in its native places of growth, pronounced quite as good as those grown 

 within or near the tropics." (Hort. Trans, ii. 408.) 



5993. Propagation and culture. Both species may be raised from seeds or layers, and the plants may be 

 afterwards placed in a bed or area of rich soil, and trained or spread out near the glass. The temperature 

 should never be under that of the pine-apple. 



5994. The lo-quat is the Mespilus Japonica, L. (Vent. 

 Malm. 19. and Hort. Trans, iii. tab. 11.) ; Eriobotryajaponica, 

 Lam. Icos. Di-Pent. L. and Rosacea, J. (fig. 528.) In a 

 wild state it is a lofty tree with thick knobbed branches, and 

 tomentose spray or branchlets ; the leaves are narrow, a cpan 

 long, bright-green and cinereous tomentose below. The flow- 

 ers come in spikes at the end of the shoots in October and 

 November. The fruit is a five-celled pome, about the size 

 of a gooseberry, and in taste approaching to that of the apple. 

 It ripens in May and June. It is a native of Japan, and was 

 introduced in 1787 to Kew-gardens, where, as well as in 

 some other places, it has produced fruit. 



5995. Propagation and culture. It may be raised from 

 seeds, or continued by cuttings or layers ; but the best me- 

 thod, when it is intended to produce fruit, is to graft it on 

 any other species of mespilus. It is considered as a frame 

 or half-hardy tree ; but, to ripen its fruit with flavor, should 

 have the temperature of the stove, in which, planted in a 

 border of rich soil, it will add to the variety of the dessert. 

 Sir Joseph Banks (Hort. Trans, i.) considers the fruit as 



equally good with that of the mango. Lord Bagot, who has 

 fruited the plant in a very superior manner for several years 

 at Blithfield, gives the following outline of his practice : 

 " The plan I have usually followed has been to give it a 



winter (out of doors) during the months of July, August, 



and September, and about the middle of October to re- 

 place it in a very warm situation in the tan. This summer, 



however, 1 was obliged to alter my mode ; for, just at the 



moment when I was going to put it out for its winter, it be- 

 came covered with at least twenty bunches of the finest 



flowers possible ; I was therefore obliged to let it remain 



where it was. The present year's treatment, therefore, is an 



exception to the former practice; under that, it usually 



breaks into flower about the end of December, and the fruit 



becomes ripe in March or April. The last time my plant 



was in fruit, Sir William Coke, who had resided many years 



in Ceylon, where he is at present, was with me at Blithfield ; 



he told me that he was in the constant habit of eating very 



large quantities of the fruit daily in that island, but that he 



had never tasted any so good, and with so much flavor, as 



those produced in my garden." 

 5996. The mango-tree (Mangifcra indica, L. (Bot. Rep. 



425.) Pent. Monog. L. and Terebintacea?, J.) (fig. 529.) 



is a large spreading tree, like the walnut, with lanceolate 



shining green leaves, seven or eight inches long, having a 



sweet resinous smell; the flowers are white, growing in 



bunches at the extremity of the branches. The fruit a 



drupe, large, kidney-shaped, covered with a smooth, soft- 



ish, resinous pale-green, yellow, or half-red skin, and con- 

 taining an ovate, woody, fibrous, compressed nut or stone, 



