Fruits of the Hawaiian IslandsWilder, Gerrit Parmile
Science
Fruits of the Hawaiian Islands
Wilder, Gerrit Parmile
Fruit-culture -- Hawaii
The leaves are alternate, and abruptly pinnate; the oblong leaflets are
not quite opposite. Flowers pale green, small and regular, producing
bunches of reddish-colored fruits, each about the size of a small
walnut. They are covered with a parchment-like skin having many soft
spines. The interior consists of a large seed covered with a whitish
pulp of a sweetish acid flavor; this pulp when dried in the shell
becomes somewhat shriveled, brownish in color, and very sweet.
The fruiting season is in July, and as there are but few trees here that
bear, high prices are obtained for this rare fruit, which is much prized
by the Chinese. Fresh seeds will germinate, but it requires so many
years for these seedlings to bear that grafted and budded plants are
imported from China.
[Illustration: PLATE LXXXVI.--"_Lichee._"
One third natural size.]
_G. P. W. Collection._ PLATE LXXXVII
_Euphoria Longana._
LONGAN.
This tree is a native of India and Southern China. It produces its
flowers and fruits at about the same time of year as does the Litchi,
which it somewhat resembles, although its fruits are somewhat smaller
and less palatable. The tree grows to a height of about 20 feet. It has
large, alternate, pinnate leaves, and the oblong leaflets are not quite
opposite; they are glossy on the upper surface, and a dusty-brown on the
underside. The small flowers come in terminal panicles; and the fruit,
which is borne in clusters, has a thin, brittle, somewhat rough shell.
There is one large, smooth, hard seed; around which is a thin layer of
sweetish, aromatic pulp. The best fruits raised here are those grown by
the Chinese.
[Illustration: PLATE LXXXVII.--_Longan._
One third natural size.]
_G. P. W. Collection._ PLATE LXXXVIII
_Morus nigra._
MULBERRY.
This low-growing tree is a native of southwestern Russia and Persia. It
has rough, dark-green leaves, usually not lobed. The thick, fleshy fruit
is variable in size. The mulberry grows readily from cuttings.
[Illustration: PLATE LXXXVIII.--_Mulberry._
One third natural size.]
_G. P. W. Collection._ PLATE LXXXIX
_Garcinia mangostana._
MANGOSTEEN.
This tree is a native of Sumatra and of the Islands of the Eastern
Archipelago. It is of medium size, the stem rising to a height of about
20 feet; and its branches coming out in regular order give the head of
the tree the form of a parabola. The leaves are about 8 inches long and
4 inches broad at the middle; they are a beautiful green on the upper
side and a delicate olive on the under side. The flowers resemble a
single rose with dark-red petals. The fruit is round, about the size of
a small orange, and has a characteristic persistent calyx. The shell is
at first green, and when ripe changes to purplish-brown marked with
yellow spots. The Mangosteen is called the queen of fruits, and the tree
upon which it is produced is most graceful and beautiful.
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