THE XAVEL ORANGE OF BAHIA. 31 



delicious is highly esteemed by the natives, especially in the form of 

 a doce or jam, when, as one writer says, " it is a nectar." 



In form the bacupari is ovate, rather sharp at the apex, varying 

 in length from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half. The stem 

 is 1 to 2 inches in length, rather stout. The tough, pliable, orange- 

 yellow skin, about an eighth of an inch in thickness, surrounds the 

 soft, translucent, snowy white pulp in which two oblong, elliptical 

 seeds are embedded. In flavor the pulp is subacid, sprightly, sug- 

 gestive of the mangosteen, to which it is distantly related. When 

 fully ripe it is delicious. 



The tree is said to flower in December and ripens its fruit in Janu- 

 ary and February. It is little known in cultivation. 



THE FRUTA DE CONDESSA. 



During March and April the fruta de condessa {Rollinia deliciosa 

 Safford) is not rare in the markets of Rio de Janeiro. Large 

 baskets of the fruit are shipped in from the near-by regions and 

 offered alongside its relative, the sugar-apple {ATvnona. squamosa L.), 

 called locally fruta de conde, frequently at a higher price than the 

 latter. 



In general form this fruit (PI. XVII) is conical to cordate, some- 

 times even oblate, and 3 to 4 inches in diameter. The surface is 

 covered with conical protuberances arising from the carpellary areas 

 and is creamy yellow in color. The skin is rather tough and not 

 easily broken ; it surrounds the milky white, somewhat mucilaginous 

 flesh in which the seeds are embedded. The flavor is sweet, and it 

 is relished by the Brazilians, as evidenced by the quantity of fruit 

 sold. The seeds are not as numerous as in many other annonaceous 

 fruits and are about the size of an average bean. 



FRUITS 01!' THE HIGHLANDS AND SEMIARID REGIONS OF MINAS 

 GERAES AND BAHIA. 



A large numljer of wild fruits are found on the rolling plains of 

 the State of Minas Geraes, some of them having been brought under 

 cultivation by the inhabitants of this region. In addition to the 

 common fruits of the Troj)ics, the higher portions of Minas Geraes 

 produce some of the European fruits and the North American grapes 

 (juite successfully. As there is an extensive demand for peaches, 

 pluniH, apph's, pcius, and other temj^erate fruits in Rio de Janeiro 

 and (jtlicr lai-ge cities, the Tirnzilian Government has recently estal)- 

 lishcd ;iii cxpcriinent station in connection with the agricultural 

 school at Harhacena (PI. XVIII), where numerous varieties of all 

 the rriofc. imf)f)rt!uit temperate fi'iiits are being tested in order to 

 find uhii li iiic best ndiipfcd <n (he fc'rion. 



