PACE CU BA RE VoL EW 21 
Fruit of Chayote. One is Cut Through the Middle, Showing Single Seed. 
placed in the northern markets, a good demand could doubtless be created, for when the 
rich, yellow, juicy pulp is sliced and served with wine, or with sugar and cream, it has 
almost no equal and is generally esteemed. In Europe it is usually preferred in the form 
of sauces, preserves or jam. The fruit is used also as a source of alcohol. 
The flowers of the mammey apple tree yield by distillation an essential oil used in 
the liquors under the name of eau de creole. The bark when cut yields a yellowish gum or 
resin called resina de mammey, which is used by the Indians as a cure for itch, and to 
prevent chiggers from attacking their feet. The bark contains tannin and is regarded as 
being slightly poisonous. 
The Vegetable Pear or Chayote 
One of the most familiar vegetables on the West Indian produce markets is a squash 
variously known as chaka, chayote or choke squash. In shape it resembles a pear and is, 
therefore, often called vegetable pear. It is the mirliton of Haiti and Martinique, the 
pipinella of Madeira and the chayote of Cuba. There are a number of varieties of this 
squash and they are distributed all over the tropics; the one that is generally considered 
the best is the cream-colored variety of Jamaica. The specific name is Sechiwm edule. 
The plant is a native of tropical America, but has now been distributed throughout 
the warmest parts of the globe. 
The vegetable pear plant is a vine almost similar to our squash plant of the north, 
but the fruit is pear-shaped and is solid with but a single large seed as is shown in the 
