Memecylon edule. A shrub with blue flowers and small drupes, 
is common about our coasts. The fruit is eatable but hardly worth 
gathering. 
Lythrace^e. 
Sonneratia alba . <f Perupat ” is a very abundant tree along our 
sea coast, often growing in the sea itself, it has a round fruit flat- 
tened at the top about an inch and a half across. 
The fruit is eaten by natives and when quite ripe is not unplea- 
sant reminding one of a medlar. 
Pomegranate, Punica Gvanatum L., is often grown in gardens 
in the Straits. It seems to prefer rather sandy soil. The fruit here 
is small and poor, and indeed the plant seems to be more cultivated 
for its flowers and the medicinal properties of its roots than for its 
fruits. 
SAMYDACE/E. 
The chief genus of this order is Casearia, a number of shrubs or 
small trees of which the seeds are inclosed in a red eatable pulp 
One of them is known as Casearia esculenta , but though the pulps 
is eatable it is certainly not worth the trouble of eating. 
PA SSI FLORET. 
The climbing passion-flowers ( Passijlora ) have often fruit which 
is eatable, and in some cases really excellent. Of these the best 
are Passijlora quad ran gu laris and P. laurifolia. 
The first of these the Grenadilla, has large green fruits 6 inches 
long with a thick rind and a good deal of pulp of a very pleasant 
flavour round the seeds. It is eaten raw and the rind is sometimes 
preserved in sugar as a sweetmeat. The Sweet cup Passijlora 
laurifolia is much smaller, about the size of a hen’s egg, orange 
yellow in colour. The rind is thin and not used as preserve. This 
is the best fruit of the two, and the most popular. 
The passion flowers grow readily from seed or cuttings and can 
be let to climb on a trellis or on low trees. They grow rapidly 
and fruit well, especially the Sweet-cup, but are often plundered 
by civet cats, monkeys and bats. 
The Papaya ( Carica papaya ) is a native of South America but 
has been cultivated all over the tropics for many years. The tree 
is raised from seed, and is of very rapid growth. It prefers rich 
rather damp soil, but will thrive in almost any soil, except very stiff 
clay or very wet spots. It is unisexual. The flowers in the female 
tree being on short pedicles on the upper part of the stem. Those 
of the male being in long pendent racemes. Hermaphrodite 
flowers often occur on the male inflorescence and produce small 
abortive fruits. The flowers are fertilized by night moths usually 
hawk-moths. 
The Papaya fruits almost all the year, and is one of the best and 
most wholesome of our fruits. In sub-tropical parts of the world, 
the fruits have a strong coarse flavour of nasturtiums, but those 
of the Straits and other places near the tropics have barely a taste 
of this and are often as good as a melon. Though so extensively 
