206 Fruits of Cuba. 
The most common name of the fruit is Sapotilla, or 
Sapodilla ; though it is also called by the Spaniards 
ispero. : | 
The tree is quite handsome. Its leaves are leathery, 
glossy, lanceolate, growing in thick tufts. 'The blos- 
soms.are white, bell-shaped, with an agreeable perfume, 
like that of fresh apple-blossoms. 
The fruit is round, about the size and shape of a 
peach, except that it has no cleft, but is entirely globu- 
lar. The skin is rough, or downy. The color is nearly 
the same within and without—an ashen grey; the pulp, 
however, being brightened with a dash of yellow. This 
"s 
pulp is very soft, when ripe, rather juicy, and somewhat © 5 m E 
"m. | 2 
granular, like certain kinds of our pears.’ Its taste is rich 
and sweet, but of no very decided flavor—not to be 
compared, for instance, in the estimation of a northern 
palate at least, to that of a good peach. In the middle 
of the pulp are from one or two to five or six flat, black, 
polished seeds, much larger than those of a watermelon, 
with a rough, whitish scar occupying the inner edge. 
Before it is: ripe, the Sapotilla is hard and unpalata- 
blé; indeed uneatable; and gives out a thick milky 
juice when wounded. But when fully ripe, it melts 
away in the mouth; and the milky juice disappears. 
When broken asunder, the pulp divides itself into sev- 
eral compartments, like those of the orange ; but these 
compartments have no » dividing skin which is — 
tible. 
Externally, this fruit iion patsai uninviting, 
looking like a small, round potato, just dug. Its russet - 
balls, however, studding the luxuriant and glossy foliage 
of the tree, produce a beautiful effect in the mass. 
4 5 c 4 
Fra 
