ON THE CULTURE OF THE MOMBIN, HOBO, &e. AS TABLE FRUIT. 
41 
make a mixture of two parts sandy loam, and one part very rotten dung, with a small 
portion of vegetable mould. 
Always give a good drainage by laying plenty of broken crocks, freestone, or 
charcoal at the bottom of the pot or tub. 
During the whole of the summer season water liberally at the roots ; and when 
the plant is growing freely, syringe every fine day ; but in winter give no more water 
than is absolutely necessary to keep the plant from flagging. 
Pruning is not requisite, excepting to remove branches which interfere with 
other plants, or to improve the shape. 
Cuttings are easily struck in pots of sandy soil, or sand, placed in a moderate 
heat, and covered with a hand-glass. 
Spondias purpurea. — Purple Hog Plum. This is also a native of the West 
Indies and different parts of South America. It is the S. Mombin of Linnaeus, 
and the S. Myrobalanus of Jacquin and Goertner. The flowers are small, red, and 
are produced in simple racemes. The fruit is ovate, of a dull purple colour, some- 
what streaked with yellow, and usually measures about an inch in length. The 
flesh is transparent and yellow, with a flavour resembling the last. The tree grows 
from forty to fifty feet high, and may be cultivated in the same manner as 8. lutea. 
In its native country it is very often used as a hedge plant, and " boughs are set in 
the ground when in flower, and in two or three months are laden with ripe fruit." 
It is often called the Spanish Plum-tree. 
Spondias Zanzee. — Zanzee Plum. This plant is a native of Guinea, where it 
forms a large spreading bush of sixteen to twenty feet high. The flowers are borne 
in terminal panicles, and the fruit is the size, form, and colour of our Common 
Sloe, the produce of the wild blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). The flavour greatly 
resembles that of the S. lutea, and no doubt the same treatment will be suitable. 
Spondias Og-higee. — Oghigee Plum. This is also a native of Guinea, where 
it grows into a spreading tree, sixty feet or more high. The flowers are white, 
diminutive in size, and are produced in large, spreading, terminal panicles. The 
fruit is oblong, and grows to the size of a pigeon's egg. It is doubtful whether 
either this species or the last are yet introduced to England ; if not, they certainly 
deserve to be so. 
POUPARTIA. 
The Genus Poupartia, which was formerly associated with Spondias, consists of 
three known species, all bearing eatable fruit, of some value in their native 
countries, but which to us are too little known to admit of an opinion upon their merits. 
P. Borbonica. — The Bourbon Plum or Bois de Poupart, is a native of the 
Island of Bourbon, where it attains the height of forty or fifty feet. Its pinnated 
leaves are very long, and contain from eleven to nineteen leaflets. The flowers are 
dark purple, small, and produced in terminal racemes. The fruit is small, dull 
yellow, and of a pleasant flavour. It was introduced in 1825 ; but its flowers being 
inconspicuous, little attention has been paid to its culture, and it is now rarely seen 
in our stoves. 
VOL. XV, — NO. CLXX, G- 
