R. T. LOWE — FRUITS AND VEGETABLES OE MADEIRA, ETC. 175 



88. Sechium edule (Sw.). Quite confined to Madeira, where 

 it is a not less excellent than abundant and productive vegetable. 

 There are two sorts, the white- and green-fruited. The latter is 

 the best. It is propagated by planting the whole one-seeded fruit, 

 which enlarges into a persistent corky subperennial rhizome, 6-12 

 inches in diameter, and sends up annually fresh shoots for several 

 years. This is, I believe, a unique instance of such transmuta- 

 tion. 



Papayace^:. 



89. Carica Papaya L. The Papaw is, except perhaps the 

 Cocoa-nut, one of the most striking and abundant trees of the 

 Cape Yerdes ; and in those islands its fruit is excellent if timely 

 gathered, i. e. before it has turned completely yellow. It forms 

 with the coffee and banana or plantain the main vegetation of the 

 valleys or ravines in St. Antao and Brava. In Madeira and the 

 Canaries it is merely an occasional inmate of gardens, and the 

 fruit is not esteemed. 



Cactace^:. 



90. Opuntia Tuna L. Naturalized everywhere in Madeira and 

 the Canaries, but very rarely seen in the Cape Verdes, and merely 

 as a cultivated plant. Its cultivation for cochineal in Madeira 

 has proved, as I always anticipated, a total failure. The fruit, 

 however, is most excellent and valuable. 



91. O. Dillenii (Ker). Naturalized everywhere in the 

 Canaries, where its purple or crimson fruit is rarely eaten. It is 

 not found in the Cape Yerdes or Madeira. 



92. O. vulgaris Mill. Seen only here and there in gardens 

 in Madeira. Fruit crimson or purple and pear-shaped like the 

 last, but insipid and equally objectionable from its effects on the 

 secretions. 



93. Pereskia aculeata Mill. Not uncommon in Madeira, the 

 Canaries, and Cape Yerdes. The small amber-coloured fruit (Bar- 

 bados Gooseberry) is by no means unpalatable. 



TJmbellace^e. 



94. Celery (Apium graveolens L.), 



95. Parsley (Petroselinum sativum L.), 



96. Fennel (Foeniculum officinale All.), 



97. Carrots (Daucus Carota L.), and 



98. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) are all successfully 



