1864 



TROPICAL FRUITS 



TROXIMON 



markets. Mealy bug attacks the cultivated pine-apple, 

 and blight and taugle-foot occur as in Florida, but in 

 suitable situations it grows "wild without any cultivation 

 quite free from disease. 



Cocoanut.'i.— There is a large export of cocoanuts in 

 the shell from the W. Indies, and in Jamaica there is a 

 factory for making cocoanut oil. The palms are suh- 

 ject in some districts to a disease which attacks tlie 

 terminal bud. So far as can be judged, it is of a 

 bacterial nature, and probably infection is caused liy 

 beetles and other insects. In the West Indies cocoanuts 

 flourish even in the interior of the islands and at a con- 

 siderable elevation — 2,000 feet. They require an abund- 

 ance of water at their roots. 



Mangoes were iutroduced into the ^Vest Indies towards 

 the end of the eighteenfh century, and to-day they are 

 the coTumonest trees — tlie reason being that the seeds 

 germinate readily and at once take root in almost any 

 soil. The trees will grow even at elevations of 5,00*0 

 feet, but they do not b(.-:ir fruit above 3,500 feet, nor do 

 they bear at all in wet districts. There are numerous 

 varieties, most of them being somewhat tibrons, even 

 the esteemed "No. 11" containing some thread-liko' fiber. 

 In the year 1809 several of tlie best grafted varieties of 

 India were imported from Bombay for the Botanic 

 Gardens of Jamaica; these are of superior excellence 

 and without fiber. The seedlings of these Bombay 

 mangoes do not come true, but the majority of them 

 bear good fruit. Grafted plants are distributed from the 

 various botanic gardens of the West Indies. Experi- 

 ments in budding are lieing carried on with a view to 

 bnd the numerous inferior kinds. Even the coarse 

 mangoes which are wortliless as fruit, if picked before 

 ripe, make excellent tarts, preserves, pickles, etc., and 

 there is a wide field for enterprise in utilizing such fruit 

 in various ways. 



The pineapple, cashew, ginep, naseberry or sapodilla, 

 sweet sop, sour sop, custard apple, avocado pear, 

 cherimoya. Spanish plum (Spondias), Barbados cherry, 

 papaw, Fig. 2."J90, cocoa -plum, star apple, granadilla, 



2590. Papaw tree— Carica Papaya. A tropical fruit 



of secondary importance. (See also ii. 1^46. } 

 This I'icture .shows a spefimeu grown in the o]. en 

 in southern Florida; Fig. .^filf shows one grown in a 

 northern greenhouse. 



sweet cup, pomme d'or, guava, mammee and mammef- 

 sapota are all natives of tropical or subtropical America 

 or the West Indies, or are indigenous on both the main- 

 land and some of the islands. 



The banana, citrous fruits, cocoanut, mangosteent 

 carambola, bilimbi, Nilgiri blackberry, tamarind, pome- 

 granate, grape, akee, bread-fruit, and jack-fruit are 

 introduced from other countries. 



The akee, bread-fruit, jack-fruit, cho-cho ( SccJn'ioti 

 edule, Fig. 2281), ochra and avocado pear are fruits 

 used as vegetables. 



Great improvements have lately been made in the 

 mode of packing fruits for export. The Government of 

 Jamaica is about to appoint inspectors of fruit for 

 export, who will stamp all packages that p:iss as ■well- 

 graded, well-packed, etc., with the Government mark. 

 It will be optional for exporters to take advantage of 

 such inspection. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture in the Lesser 

 Antilles, and the Botanic Gardens of Jamaica, Trinidad, 

 and British Guiana are devoting a considerable amount 

 of attention to fruit with gratilying results. 



The inau.guration in January, 1901, of a new line of 

 steamers, with a subsidy of $200,000 annually, specially 

 built for the fruit trade, and sailing direct f mm Jamaica 

 to England, has already had a great eifect in increasing 

 the area under ciiltivation. This is only the first step in 

 a regular and systematic export of fruit from the West 

 Indies to Europe, and the development of the trade 

 to an enormous extent is confidently anticipated. 



Wm. Fawcett. 



Botany o£ Tropical Fruits. All the tropical fruits 

 mentioned above are described in this work at their 

 jiroper places, with the exception of some of the follow- 

 ing: 



Barliadoes Cherry is Mulphjltin ghiln-a, whicli see. 



Nilgiri Blackberry is Jiiibn.'i racei/i />.'<>(.■<. 



Ochra is another spelling for Ol-ro . 



Pomme Cythere is Spondias OnJris, (lescriljed lielow. 



Pomme d'Or is Pa.ssifhra Janrifo/ia . 



Spanish Plum. C<')nsult Spoiidia.s purpurea , below. 



Sweet Cup is Passi flora i^dii/is and P. hiaUfnrtnis. 



The genus Spbudias of the family A narardiucecr takes 

 its name from an old Greek word used by Theophrastus 

 for some kind of plum. It contains about S species of 

 tropical trees with alternate odd-pinnate Ivs., numer- 

 ous opposite Ifts., minute whitish fis. and yellow fruits 

 as large as common plums. Botanicnlly tlie fruit is a 

 fleshy driipe with a 1-5-loc.uled I)ony endocarp. The ge- 

 nus is distinguished by the following characters: ovary 

 3-5-loculed; ovule pendulous: Ivs. pinnate: fls. polyga- 

 mous; stamens 8-10: styles 4-.'i, free at apex. The fol- 

 lowing are widely cult, in the tropics. 



A. Loruh'fi of tlie I'l-li'nuiff tiuf disfaiif, eoniii'ctad oiiJif 

 b>/ ihe roiii mon base . 



diilcis, Forst. Pomme Cvthere. Sweet Otaheite 

 Apple. Fruit de Cytheke. Hevi. Wi Fkuit, in Ta- 

 hite. Height .50 ft.: Ifts. 11-13, oval-oblong, acuminate, 

 serrate: fr. golden yellow, tastes something like a ])ine- 

 apple. Society Islands. 



AA. L'irules of flic smoolhish nut coxflgaous a}(d more 

 or less <idu<(te. 



B. Baremes paniclcd, often exceeding the Ivs.: fls. 

 yelloivish white . 



lutea, Linn., (5. 3f6mhin, Jacq., not Linn.). Golden 

 Apple. J^vjiaioa Plum. Tall tree: Ifts. 7-17. ovate-lan- 

 ceolate or lanceolate, subentire or serrulate : panicle 

 K-1 ft. long: fr. ovoid, 2 in. long, yellow. Cosmopoli- 

 tan in tropics. 



BB. Paeernes iinhranrhed, fea--f!d.. mucJi sJm-rler than 

 trs.: fls. purplish. 



purpiirea, Linn.(.S'. JL'>i)it'i)i, Linn., not Jac(|.). Span- 

 is i-r Flu v. Low tree: Ivs. deci<lnous : Ifts. 10-21, ellip- 

 tic-oblong, bluntish, us^aally serrate: fr. obovoid, 1 in. 

 long, yidlow or tinged purple. American Tropics. 



TROXIMON {Greek, edible; which does not apply)- 

 <''>iiip'Jsil(r. A genus of 15 species of mostly perennial, 

 nearly stemless herl)s native of North America except 

 possibly 2 species which are South American. The spe- 



