FRUITS AND NUTS 131 



fruit is eaten fresh, in which state it has an agreeable but not 

 very pronounced flavor, or may be used in making vinegar. 

 The fruit contains 6.8 per cent, of sugar. 



The Surinam cherry (Eugenia micheli) is a small tree na- 

 tive of Brazil. It bears a round, ribbed fruit i inch in diame- 

 ter, of bright red color, somewhat resembling the tomato. The 

 pulp of the Surinam cherry is too acid to eat fresh, but is 

 quite extensively used in preserves. This fruit is also called 

 the Brazil cherry. The tree bears small white flowers and is 

 propagated by seed. The fruit contains i per cent, protein and 

 6 per cent, sugar. 



The rose apple (E. jambos) is a tree of medium size, native 

 of India. It bears fragrant rose-colored fruit of sweet-acid 

 flavor, and is ij4 inches in diameter. This fruit is much used 

 in preserves. The tree thrives in moist districts up to an alti- 

 tude of 3,ooo feet. It is cultivated in Ceylon and to a less 

 extent in Hawaii and other tropical countries. The fruit is 

 usually of inferior quality. The flowers of this tree are large 

 and bear numerous long white stamens. The rose apple in 

 fresh condition contains 12 per cent, sugar. It is grown in 

 California for its foliage or ornamental flowers but does not 

 fruit in that state. 



CAPE GOOSEBERRY 



The Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) is native of Peru 

 but is now grown everywhere, even in some of the Northern 

 States in this country. It is a straggling, more or less upright, 

 herbaceous plant belonging to the same family with the potato 

 and tomato. On the mainland of the United States it usually 

 attains a height of 10 to 18 inches, but in Hawaii and other 

 tropical regions it reaches a height of ij^ to 5 feet, with a 

 spread of 6 to 10 feet. The leaves are irregularly toothed 

 and heart-shaped at the base and very pubescent. The flowers 

 are pale yellow and about ^2 inch in diameter. The fruit when 

 ripe is greenish-yellow, spherical, and the size of large marbles, 



