Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 2 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 2 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
Banana, _musa sapientum,_ rises to the height of six or ten feet;
the leaves are about eight inches broad, and three feet long, and
of a bright green colour, deeply veined. The wind, as it blows
them backwards and forwards, severs them at these several veins,
so that in a few days, from unfolding, the banana branches hang
in tattered shreds. The fruit is oblong, and about four inches in
length; the outer covering is yellow, and the flavour something
like that of an over-ripe apple. When cut longitudinally, a
representation of the crucifixion of our Saviour is said to be
perceived, but this, I think, is a vagary of the imagination—at
least, I never could find anything of the sort, although I have
cut many bananas.
The Custard Apple, _annona reticulata,_ is a genus of the
polygynia order, class polyandria. This tree rises to about the
height of a common apple. The cup of the flower is three-leaved,
from whence start six petals of the heart-shaped kind, and
antheræ are numerous. The pointal becomes a large roundish fruit,
of a pulpy consistence, and containing a great number of black
seeds; it is not held in much repute, and is scarcely eaten
except by the negroes, although Ligon speaks of it as being very
delicious.
Star-apple, _chrysophyllum cainito,_ belongs to the monogynia
order, and petandria class of plants. It rises to the height of
thirty-five or forty feet, with a smooth straight trunk, from
which shoot several branches at regular distances. The foliage is
of a deep green on the upper side, with the underneath of a
russet colour. The flower is campaniform, divided into ten
segments, but of no great beauty; from the calyx rises the
pointal, which afterwards becomes the fruit, of a globular shape,
and divided into ten cells, in each of which is a flattish glossy
seed. It derives its name from its internal arrangement, which,
when cut transversely, presents the form of a star.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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