TROPICAL FRUITS 213 



grape, deliciously perfumed, and as large as an infant's head. Turki is large 

 and of a white colour. Misri has a greenish rind and a somewhat sub-acid 

 and harsh flavour." This fruit is worthy the attention of the English fruit 

 specialist. It is not difficult to picture a light house with a southern aspect 

 filled with pomegranates trained as espaliers close to the glass in the same 

 manner as peach trees are. They would certainly flower freely, as they do 

 against a south wall outside, and if, by a little skilful manipulation, a good 

 set of fruit could be obtained, they would, when ripe, be a " beautiful picture 

 of bright green leaves and solid crimson fruit of the richest hue and most 

 admirable shape." A good pomegranate is good eating, but a seedless one is 

 much to be preferred to those one usually gets from the shops, which have been 

 compared to a bag of moistened shot. Canon Ellacombe states that in 1876 

 he counted more than sixty ripe fruits on a pomegranate at Bath, which 

 demonstrates that sunshine sufficient to mature the fruit can be obtained in 

 some parts of these islands at any rate. 



PASSION FLOWER FRUIT 



Several species of Passiflora bear edible fruits. The granadilla is perhaps 

 the most commendable, although the sweet -cup (P. edulis) is more fre- 

 quently cultivated in this country. The name granadilla has been applied to 

 the fruits of no less than three distinct species, closely allied no doubt, but still 

 botanically distinct. These are P. alata, P. quadrangularh, and P. macrocarpa. 

 They have angular, winged stems, large, entire ovate leaves, and large, egg- 

 shaped edible fruits, considered by some highly delectable, by others not worth 

 eating. The largest is P. macrocarpa, with fruits the size and shape of an 

 ordinary melon or an ostrich's egg. P. quadrangularis and P. alata have fruits 

 about half this size. All three flower and fruit freely under stove treatment. 

 The fruits have a thick rind enclosing a mass of the most deliciously flavoured 

 jelly-like pulp, and numerous small black seeds. It may be made into a conserve 

 of a particularly pleasing quality. 



P. edulis (the Sweet-Cup) is not uncommon as a stove climber in English 

 gardens. It has trilobed leaves and smooth purple fruits the size of bantam's eggs ; 

 when ripe they have a hard rind and an almost liquid pulp of pleasing flavour. 

 The best way to eat them is as one takes a boiled egg — that is, cut off one end and 

 consume the contents with a spoon, adding a few drops of port wine instead of salt. 



P. maliformh (the Golden Apple) has ovate, entire leaves, and fruits like 

 small apples. 



P. laurifolia (the Water Lemon) also has ovate, entire leaves, and fruits of 

 the same quality as P- edulis, but larger. Mr. Abraham Dixon, of Cherkley 

 Court, Leatherhead, informs me that the only way to get this species to set 

 fruits in this country is by fertilising its flowers with pollen from P. raddiana 

 (iermesina). He has grown it many years for the sake of its delicious fruits 

 obtained in this way. The cultivation of these Passifloras presents no difficulty. 

 They are stove climbers, with a liking for an open loamy soil and plenty of 

 moisture. 



