A thorny tree, sometimes exceeding 6.5 meters in height; spines
medium large and sharp; leaves 13.5 to 18 centimeters long, 4 to 6
centimeters broad, ovate to oblong ovate, coriaceous, dark green and
shining above, crenate; base rounded to broadly acute; apex acute,
sometimes emarginate; petiole 5.5 to 8 centimeters long, broadly
margined, sometimes 4.5 centimeters wide, wing area inferior or
equal to sometimes exceeding leaf area; flowers 4 to 7, in axillary or
terminal, compact cymes, 17 to 28 millimeters in diameter; calyx small,
not cupped; petals 4 to 5, oblong ovate, white, with trace of purple
on the outside; stamens 30 to 36, equal, free, with abundant pollen;
ovary rather large, globose, 13 to 18 loculed; style short and stout;
stigma knob like; fruit subglobose to short pyriform or turbinate,
attaining a length of 9 centimeters and a diameter of 7 centimeters;
surface smooth; color greenish yellow to lemon yellow; rind medium
thick; pulp greenish, juicy, sharply acid, aromatic; juice sacs rather
short and blunt, usually containing a more or less distinct nucleus;
seeds usually many, flat, reticulate.
This fruit, commonly called cabuyao by the Tagalogs in central Luzon,
is without question the "copahan" of Bohol. Near Manila the tree
has been found in flower in September, while in Bohol flowers were
collected in May. The fruit may be used in making ade, but is inferior
to the lemon or lime. The native inhabitants eat it together with fish,
and also use the fruit in washing. It is of practically no importance.
The "amongpong," found in Bohol, and considered a distinct fruit from
the copahan by the native inhabitants, differs chiefly in having only
26 to 30 stamens, and a large oblate ovary with a short and slender
style. The first has not been examined by the writer and is said to
be smooth and short, pyriform, 10 centimeters in diameter. Flowers
examined in May.
"Calo-oy" is another fruit also found in Bohol considered by the
inhabitants as distinct from the "copahan" and "amongpong." The leaf
characters in the calo-oy scarcely differ sufficiently to entitle
it to rank even as a subspecies; the flowers were just gone when the
visit was made to Bohol. The fruit is said to be globose, smooth and
about 8 centimeters in diameter.
"Amontay" (Pl. IVb) is still another form of C. histrix found in
Bohol. This plant was also out of its flowering stage at the time
of the visit. The fruit, forwarded to the writer in February by
Mr. Southwick, is about 88 millimeters in diameter, irregularly
globose, with flattened or depressed base, and rounded apex, smooth,
lemon yellow; oil cells mostly raised; skin thick; the pulp, contained
in 10 to 12 locules, juicy, and rather pleasantly aromatic; juice
cells medium large, short and plump, containing a minute, greenish
nucleus; cotyledons supraterraneous, distinct.
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