Locust-Tree, hymenæa courbaril; order monogynia, class decandria. This tree sometimes rises to the height of sixty or seventy feet, in a straight column-like trunk, of two or three feet in circumference, covered with an ash-coloured bark. The leaves are of a dark-green, and the flowers, divided into five segments, and of a pale purple, streaked with yellow, come out in loose spikes at the end of the branches. The germen becomes a thick fleshy pod, of four or five inches long, covered with a hard brown shell, and containing a farinaceous substance, in taste something like gingerbread, but of a most intolerable odour, but which is eaten heartily by the negroes. In it is seated two or three hard brown seeds, of about the size of marbles, but of an oblong shape. The timber is used for making bedsteads, &c., while from the roots a dark transparent gum may be procured, which, when dissolved with spirits of wine, forms an excellent varnish.
The Cashew-nut Tree, or anacardium, belongs to the order diœcia, class polygamia. The cup of the flower is oblong and quinquefid. The flower is deciduous, and is formed of a single leaf, divided into five concave segments, with five lanceolated petals; at the bottom of the calyx is the ovarie, which turns to a fruit the size and shape of a bury pear, and of a red or yellow colour; it abounds in a sweet juice, slightly acrid, but which is much esteemed by the Antiguans in punch or lemonade; from the apex of the fruit grows the seed, in shape like a hare’s kidney, the upper part of the receptacle being the largest. The shell is thick and cellular, and abounds in a dark caustic oil, which blisters the parts it is applied to; it is said to be used by some West Indian ladies to improve their complexion—it must prove a very painful wash, I should think; far unlike Rowland’s inimitable Kalydor. When roasted, the kernel is very sweet; they are often sent to England as presents. It is a common practice in Antigua, to place the young fruit, when growing, in a shallow-necked bottle, which is attached to the tree; when the fruit is full grown, it is severed from the tree, and the bottle filled with high wines, which keeps it in a state of preservation. Thus prepared, it is sent to England as a curiosity, where it raises surprise from the fact of so large a fruit having entered at so small an aperture as a bottle’s mouth. The milk which oozes from the tree stains of a deep black, which no ablution will remove.
Mango-Tree, mangifera, belongs to the polygamia class of plants. This tree sometimes rises to a great height, and is covered with a roughish bark. The leaves are often eight or nine inches long, and about an inch and a half in breadth, and the flowers start from loose umbels at the end of the branches. The germen afterwards becomes a large, oblong, fleshy fruit, of a fine yellow colour, and containing a flat seed covered with a woolly substance. When good, it has something of the flavour of a ripe apricot, but the generality of mangos are so strongly impregnated with turpentine, that it is almost uneatable. When fermented, an agreeable drink is said to be procured from the fruit. This tree was introduced into the West Indies from some part of Africa. In 1798, Admiral Lord Rodney planted it in Jamaica; he had taken the plants in a French prize from the Isle of Bourbon.
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.
Papaw, carica papaya, a genus of the decandria order, class diœcia. The trunk rises in a simple hollow stem, marked in lozenges, to the height of eighteen or twenty feet; the trees are male and female; the leaves are large, and divided into several lobes, and come out upon very long, hollow footstalks, from the acros or summit of the tree. The male flowers are tubelous, and divided into five segments; the calyx small, and the filaments short and long alternately. The colour is a bright primrose, and, seated as they are upon their pale green flower-stalk, they present a very beautiful appearance. The female flowers are also primrose colour, and expand in form of a star, so deeply cut into six segments, that they appear to consist of so many distinct leaves. The calyx is quinquedentated; and from the centre rises the pointal, surmounted by a crest of four leaves. This pointal afterwards becomes a fleshy fruit, of an oblong or globular form, covered with a thin rind, and containing, as in a melon, numerous small black seeds of the pungent flavour of pepper. The fruit, when good, has the colour, and something of the taste, of an apricot; when unripe, the internal part is quite white, and in such state is boiled and dished up in the manner of turnip. It is also cut into various forms, and, mixed with peppers, cucumbers, &c., forms the West Indian pickles. The milk which exudes from it is said to be efficient in making meats tender; and, accordingly, its good qualities are often put to the test by notable housewives, who wish to pass off their old fowls, of five or six generations, for young chickens. From all parts of the tree flows this acrid milky juice, or albumen, which may be used instead of egg in clarifying sugar or liquors. It is also said to be a specific for the toothache.
Soursop, annona muricata, of the polygynia order, polyandria class. It is a richly foliaged tree, rising to the height of about twenty feet. The flowers have a grateful but rather heavy odour. The calyx is three-leaved; the corolla is large, composed of six petals—the three outer ones concave and coriaceous, and of a yellow colour; the three inner ones somewhat smaller and spherical. The flowers are deciduous, and when they open they make so loud a report as to occasion a start from those who stand beneath the tree. The fruit is pulpy, and covered with a thick green rind, of the consistence of leather, studded over with green prickles, cone-shaped, and attains a great size; the interior is cellular, and furnished with oblong glossy seeds, which spring from the spear-shaped core. The juice makes an excellent transparent jelly; but in its crude form the fruit is never introduced at genteel tables, although of a very grateful flavour: all manner of stock are fond of it, and the little negroes luxuriate most freely upon it when in season.
Mamma Sapota, achras mammosa, is a splendid lofty tree, belonging to the monogynia order, class pentandria. The pistil of the flower is rather long, and is surrounded by six stamens. The fruit is globular, and is covered with a thick brown rind; the eatable part lies between that and the large round seed, which is covered with a fine thin skin. It is very indigestible when eaten in its crude state, but makes a luscious sweetmeat, which is generally esteemed.
Bread Fruit, artocarpus, belongs to the order monandria, and the monœcia class of plants. It was brought from Otaheite to these islands by Captain Bligh, a gentleman well known for his trials in the “Mutiny of the Bounty.” This tree rises to the height of about forty feet, and is covered with a thick foliage; the leaves are sometimes a foot and a half long, of an oblong shape, and when broken, exude a milky juice. The trunk is of a pale ash colour, with a smoothish bark; the catkins, or male flowers, have no calyx, but are formed of valves hanging down in the form of ropes; the corolla has two petals, and concave; the female flower has neither corolla nor calyx, but the germs are numerous, connected into a globe. The fruit is globular, and about the size of a melon; the rind is thick and green, and is divided hexagonally in the form of net-work; the internal part is covered with a substance like thick wool. The edible part of the fruit lies between the skin and the core; it is perfectly white, and something like new bread, but it must be roasted before eaten. The taste is insipid, but is said to afford great nourishment. The milk which oozes from the trunk, when boiled with cocoa-nut oil, makes an excellent bird-lime, and the wood is useful for building.