THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



case it is the fleshy kernel which is sought after, 

 and so for the present it is not necessary to confine 

 ourselves to strict botanical morphology. It will 

 include any edible kernel, whether it be part of the 

 seed as in the Ginkgo or of a fruit as in the Hazel- 

 nut, and whether the outer covering be hard and woody 

 as in the Walnut or thin and fibrous as in the Chestnut. 

 The most valuable and most used nut in the world 

 is the Cocoa-nut, the product of a maritime Palm 

 {Cocos nucifera), probably of South American origin 

 and now cosmopolitan within the tropics of both 

 hemispheres. Many other nut-trees grow within 

 the tropics but few only find their way into our 

 markets. The Brazil-nut (Bertholetia excelsa) is 

 familiar to all, and in recent years the Pili-nut 

 {Canarium commune) from the Philippines has been 

 not uncommon in city stores in this country. But 

 this resume deals with those that grow in north 

 temperate lands the number of which is quite lim- 

 ited. The most important of these are the Walnuts 

 of which if we include Butternuts there are about a 

 dozen species (some of them doubtful), one natural 

 variety, and several hybrids. In Mexico and South 

 America there are several others but they are little 

 known. The most important is the European Wal- 

 nut (Juglans regia), the classical "Jovis glans" and 

 the "Nux" of Greek poets. It grows wild in Greece, 



176 



