Ixxxiv The Transactions of the South African Pluilosophical Society 
It is a very remarkable fact that the berries of the black nightshade 
(Solanum nigrum), well known to be poisonous in Europe, are perfectly 
harmless here when quite ripe, children eating them just like other 
harmless berries. Many species of wild Cucurbitaceze possess edible 
fruits, of which the sweet variety of the well-known Tsama (Citrullus 
vulgaris) often grows plentifully in the sandy tracts of the Kalihari 
Desert, and what an interesting biological object the ‘ Naras’ (Acan- 
thosicyos horrida) is, which grows in the sand-dunes near Walfish Bay, 
has already been described in a paper read before this Society,* and in 
a monograph published at home. ‘The drupes of the olive, Olea verru- 
cosa, Maurocenia Capensis, Plectronia ventosa, Sideroxylon inerme, Ochna atro- 
purpurea, Osiris compressa, and Osteospermum moniliferum are dark blue 
or black ; those of Loranthus, Zizyphus bubalinus (Buffel’s doorn), Oreo- 
daphne bullata (stinkwood), Greewia flava (kruisbesje), Carissa grandiflora 
(amatungulu), and C. arduina (numnum), Chimococca empetroides and 
Dovyalis rhamnoides (zuurbesje) are bright red, and those of Ximenia 
Americana are yellow, like the berries of the Kei apple. The fruits of 
Gethyllis spiralis (kukumakranka), Mesembryanthemum edule (sour fig), 
and of the Cream of Tartar tree, Adansonia digitata, transform the 
placenta into a highly aromatic—or, in the latter two cases, an acidu- 
lous—pulp, in which the seeds are embedded, and which is appreciated 
not only by birds and other animals, but also by the children at the 
Cape and the natives. 
Of similar origin is the eatable part of Hydnora Africana, the curious 
parasite on the roots of Euphorbia bushes. The whole plant consists 
of a subterranean stem, and the flowers that bud from it appear partly 
above the ground. The ovary surrounded by the calyx is hidden in the 
soil, and the fruit that is formed from it might be called a pome, but it 
differs from it by possessing no core, the whole of the placente having 
been transformed into a starchy and partly mucilaginous mass, in which 
the minute seeds are embedded. Their shell is of the same texture as 
described above, and consequently they are not destroyed when eaten 
by jackals or Bushmen, both being very fond of this food, in conse- 
quence of which the Colonial name of jackal’s kost has been given to 
the plant. The fruits of Ficus, e.g., F. Natalensis, as large as peas, those 
of F. damarensis, as large as walnuts, of Rubus erectus, Cassytha, and 
Cryptocarya, are fleshy pseudocarps. 
Of special interest in this respect are the fruits of the yellow-wood 
trees, Podocarpus. In this case the stalk with the bracts of the female 
flower develops into a fleshy receptacle, which is crowned by the real 
fruit. The latter is green on both trees and full of resin ; the receptacle, 
* See Trans. S. A. Phil. Soc., 1886 and 1890. Also Acanthosicyos horrida, 
Welw., by R. Marloth, in Hngler, Botan. Jahrbiicher, 1887. 
