366 FF.EAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



inches in diameter, the rim five and a half inches 

 high, and the flowers a foot and a quarter across." 1 



If one were asked to determine the largest fruit 

 hitherto known, it is probable that the answer must 

 be some species of gourd or " pumpkin," the dried 

 external portion of one such specimen being sus- 

 pended in one of the museums of the royal gardens, 

 Kew, with a diameter of about two feet. This far 

 exceeds the largest " double cocoa-nut " (Lodoicea 

 seychellarum) of which we have any experience. As 

 far as we know, the full dimensions of the largest 

 gourds have not been recorded, since they may 

 attain, in their native and warmer climes, a much 

 greater diameter than in cultivation. 



If individual seeds are the subject of inquiry, then 

 we are assured that the largest seeds of which we 

 have hitherto any experience are the beans of a 

 Mora tree (or as it is now called Dimorphandra 

 oleiferd) from Panama. These seeds are as much as 

 six inches long, five inches broad, and four inches 

 thick. If edible, such beans would not be requisite 

 in any great numbers for an ordinary meal. 



Justification might almost be found for an allusion 

 to such large starchy roots as the elephant's foot, and 

 yams of various species, in which great bulk is com- 



1 "Botanical Magazine," pi. 4,275 : "Annals of Natural His- 

 tory" (1838), p. 65. 



