Art. II. Upon the Method of setting the Fruit of the Gratia- 

 dilla. By an Amateur. 



The granadilla, or, as it is called by the South American 

 Spaniards, Purchas, is a well known West Indian fruit, pro- 

 duced by various kinds of passiflora, especially by P. quadran- 

 gularis, rnaliformis, and laurifolia, and also by a species now 

 common in our stoves,- called Passiflora edulis. It varies in 

 size and external appearance according to the particular spe- 

 cies by which it is borne, but is in all cases a sort of gourd- 

 like' apple, filled with seeds enveloped in a copious pulp, of a 

 most agreeable, subacid flavour. The great merit of this latter 

 substance, as a luxury for the dessert, has induced many indi- 

 viduals to attempt the cultivation of the plants in their stoves ; 

 and not without success. The fruit of the P. edulis is pro- 

 duced in abundance, without any particular treatment of the 

 blossoms, but it is inferior to that of either of the three other 

 kinds. Those known do not bear produce in sufficient abun- 

 dance to make their cultivation worth attention, except under 

 a particular management of their. flowers, which, as it is, I 

 believe, very little known, I will endeavour to explain, as 

 it is practised in the stove of a gentleman in this neighbour- 

 hood. 



It is well known that the beauty of the flower of the common 

 passion-flower depends upon the variously-coloured little threads 

 which are symmetrically arranged around its centre, so as to 

 exhibit the appearance of rays ; these rays proceed from a fleshy 

 cup, inside of which are also some other processes which 

 project from the side of the cup towards the centre, and 

 from a cavity capable of holding a considerable quantity of 

 moisture. From the base of this cavity rises up an erect solid 

 stalk, upon the top of which, above the stamens, is placed a 

 little green ball, surmounted by three styles, which ball after- 

 wards becomes the fruit. Now, in a hot climate, when the 

 breezes are constantly playing among the foliage, and when 

 the necessary moisture for the subsistence of the plant is sup- 

 plied by the dews and a humid atmosphere only, no inconve- 

 nience arises from the complicated arrangement by which 

 nature has distinguished the flower of the granadilla genus 

 from that of all others. But in a stove, in an artificial state, 

 where ventilation is necessarily very imperfect, and where the 

 flowers are subject to be dashed with the spray or the direct 

 effusion of the water-engine, a different event takes place. 

 The fleshy filamentous rays, which, in the tropics become 

 withered up, and quickly perish, are kept, by the circumstances 

 just alluded to, in an unnaturally damp state, and, becoming. 



