Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



281 



JJvaria, natives of Mexico and southern Asia. The Ylang-Ylang (Cananga 

 odorata), a native of southern Asia^ from which a perfume is distilled, is also a 

 member of the order. 



Origin 



DeCandolle, in his monumental work "Origin of Cultivated Plants/' discusses 

 this subject at length, and states in conclusion, "I consider it most probable that 

 the species is indigenous in Ecuador, and perhaps in the neighboring part of 

 Peru." This statement was based mainly upon the opinions of early botanists 

 who had collected in South America. That he was not certain in his conclusion 

 is plainly expressed in the conclusion itself, but until recently his verdict has 

 been generally accepted as correct. Some few, however, have held to the belief 

 that the species is indigenous in Mexico and Central America as well as Peru and 



Figure 121. A prolific Cherimoya tree at the C. W. Mitchell residence in Sierra 



Madre, California. 



Ecuador, and recent researches by Prof. Gabriel Alcocer of the Mexican National 

 Museum seem to prove that it is exclusively Central American, having been intro- 

 duced to South America from Guatemala. In a Spanish work entitled "Historia 

 del Nuevo Mundo," it appears that the author, P. Bernabe Cobo, while traveling 

 from Peru to Mexico in the year 1629^ found the Cherimoya in Guatemala City, 

 and was so pleased with it that he despatched some seeds to his friends in Peru, 

 where it was unknown at that time. Upon returning there thirteen years later, 



