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A^ia°rch,Pi89a6rru-}       Shaddock  and  Forbidden  Fruit. 
Flowers  appear  from  February  to 
May,  and  are  dispersed  in  subterminal 
racemes,  3  to  9  flowered ;  the  flowers 
are  furnished  with  lanceolate  bracts  at 
point  of  insertion.  Peduncles  angular, 
pedicels  pubescent. 
Calyx  irregularly  4- fid  (rarely  5-fid). 
Petals  4  (sometimes  5),  oblong-ob- 
tuse, coriaceous,  externally  virido- 
punctate,  furrowed  longitudinally  in- 
ternally. 
Stamens  30-35. 
Ovary  stipitate,  globose,  green  and 
minutely  pubescent. 
Style  terete  and  club-shaped. 
Stigma  subcapitate,  turbinated. 
Fruit  very  large  with  a  thick  rind. 
Two  varieties  known. 
Var.  a.  Maliformis.  Fruit  globose, 
pale  pink  pulp. 
Var.  /?.  Pyriformis.  Fruit  pear- 
shaped,  pulp  crimson. 
The  second  variety  is  more  esteemed, 
being  sweet  and  juicy,  and  having 
only  in  a  slight  and  palatable  degree 
the  acridity  which  abounds  in  the  first. 
125 
Flowers  peduncled,  axillary,  either 
solitary  or  in  a  raceme.  From  2  to  6 
bracts  at  the  base  of  each  pedicel. 
Peduncles  glabrous,  %  inch  long. 
Calyx  irregular,  5-fid,  faintly  ciliate. 
Petals  4,  linear-oblong,  rounded. 
Stamens  25. 
Fruit  sweetish,  sub-acid. 
Two  varieties  known. 
Var.  a.  Maliformis,  called  forbidden 
fruit. 
Var.  (3.  Pyriformis,  called  Barbadoes 
grape  fruit. 
As  is  the  case  with  the  shaddock,  the 
pear-shaped  variety  possesses  most  of 
the  sweet  principle,  and  is  a  preferable 
fruit. 
That  a  difference  does  exist  is  evident  from  the  above  comparison. 
Mr.  Macfayden  applied  the  term  grape  fruit  to  the  pear-shaped 
variety,  and  called  the  globose  variety  forbidden  fruit.  These  terms 
may  since  have  become  interchanged,  for  the  observations  of  a  gentle- 
man who  spent  some  time  in  the  West  Indies  show  that  at  the  pre- 
sent time  the  pear-shaped  variety  is  called  forbidden  fruit,  which 
was  substantiated  by  several  importers  of  tropical  fruit,  who  also 
stated  that  the  forbidden  fruit  is  only  in  demand  during  the  holi- 
days, when  it  is  used  in  fruit  displays  on  account  of  its  attractive 
appearance.  Mr.  Macfayden  also  observed  that  the  trees  in  Jamaica 
are  of  an  inferior  character,  from  the  fact  of  their  having  been 
raised  from  the  seed,  with  no  subsequent  efforts  to  improve  the 
quality  by  budding  or  grafting,  a  fact  which  had  been  mentioned 
some  years  previously  by  Thomas  Martyn.14 
The  following  descriptions  of  these  fruits  were  furnished  by  a 
gentleman  who  had  spent  some  time  in  the  West  Indies,  and  are 
14  1797,  Thomas  Martyn,  The  Gardener' s  and  Botanists  Dictionary . 
