3^ 



G. P. IF. Collect ion. PlATE XVII. 



Averrhoa Carambola. 



This tree, which is said to have been nam_ed after Averrhoes, 

 an Arabian physician, is a native of Insular India, and is much 

 cuUivated in India and China. It is evergreen, with dense fohage, 

 and grows to a height of from 15-20 feet. It is easily propa- 

 gated from seeds, and fruits in about three years. In Hawaii it 

 bears one crop annually, the flowers appearing in July and the 

 fruit in November and December. The leaves are alternate, odd- 

 pinnate. The flowers, which are borne in clusters on the naked 

 stems and branches, are minute, fragrant, and in color shading 

 from a pale pink to a deep purplish-red. The fruit, varying in 

 size from a hen's egg to an orange, is ovate, and has 5 acutely- 

 angled longitudinal ribs. The fragrant light-yellow skin is very 

 thin, and the pulp is watery ; it contains a number of flat brown 

 seeds. This fruit is of two varieties : the sweet, which may be 

 eaten raw, and the acid which is delicious when preserved. A 

 very appetizing pickle may be made from the half-ripe fruit of 

 the acid variety. 



