FRUITS WITH FLESHY PULP 519 



From the pineapple family our only edible fruit is the pine- 

 apple, largely cultivated in Florida and the West Indies. 



The banana family is a very small one, but exceedingly 

 important, since it furnishes, in the shape of bananas, the prin- 

 cipal subsistence of multitudes of the inhabitants of the tropics. 

 The plant is herbaceous, but sometimes grows to the height of 

 forty feet, with enormous leaves. It is extraordinarily produc- 

 tive, so that a few square rods of good soil set with banana 

 plants will supply the fruit for an entire family. 

 Our importation of bananas is very large and 

 rapidly increasing, and what was once an arti- 

 cle of luxury or a curiosity is now the staple 

 fruit for the entire year in most of our mar- 

 kets. The principal supply comes from the 

 West Indies and Central America, but bananas 

 are somewhat cultivated in the extreme south- 

 ern portions of the United States. 



The mulberry family supplies the breadfruit, 



which constitutes the most important food of 



, FIG. 386. A cacao 

 great numbers of the inhabitants of the south pod? cut open to 



Pacific Islands. Our only fruits of this family show the seeds 

 are the mulberry and the fig. Most of our figs one fourth nat- 

 are still imported, but their culture has recently ^- ~ Af ter 

 become a considerable industry in California, 

 since the variety which can be dried for shipment is now suc- 

 cessfully cultivated there. 



Two closely related groups, the saxifrage family and the 

 rose family, furnish a large proportion of all our true berries, 

 and some edible fruits which are not berries. From the former 

 family are obtained currants and gooseberries. The rose family 

 consists of five sub-families. Of these the apple subdivision 

 furnishes quinces, pears, and apples ; the rose subdivision fur- 

 nishes strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries ; and the plum 

 subdivision furnishes plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, and 

 nectarines. 



