44 



<J. V. W. Collection. PlATE XX 



Casiiniroa cdiiiis. 



WHITE SAPOTA. 



This tree, which is a native of Mexico, is said to have been 

 named after Cardinal Casimiro Gomez. The first tree of its 

 kind in Hawaii was planted in 1884, at the Government Nursery, 

 Honolulu. The seed came from Santa Barbara, California, where 

 there grows toda}', a tree more than eighty _Years old, and which 

 still bears its fruit. It is a tall evergreen with irregular branches ; 

 its digitate leaves are dark and glossy. The trunk is ashen-grey, 

 with warty excrescences. The fruit, which matures in April and 

 May, is large, 1 to 4 inches in diameter ; it is depressed-globular 

 and somewhat ribbed, like a tomato ; in color it is a light-green, 

 turning to a dull yellow when ripe, and it has a very thin skin. 

 The pulp is yellow, resembling that of an over-ripe papaia, and 

 has a melting, peach-like flavor. It contains from 1 to 3 large, 

 oblong seeds, which are said to be deleterious. 



