grows to a large size; the wood is of a beautiful dark colour, finely curled, easily worked, susceptible of a high polish, and therefore much valued as a timber-tree.

In a paper read to the Horticultural Society, Mr. Cattley, of Barnet, gives an account of a previously undescribed species of guava. The fruit is nearly spherical, of a fine deep claret colour, growing at the insertion of the leaves, and contains from twenty to thirty seeds, inclosed in a pulp, which is sweet, and slightly acid. Independently of the value and beauty of the fruit, this is a highly ornamental plant, may be propagated freely by cuttings, and bears at the age of eighteen months. It is understood to have come from South America, and has an external texture resembling the fig: its internal consistence and flavour bear a considerable resemblance to those of the strawberry. With proper treatment, it is one of the most free growing of all the tropical fruits.

This guava, which has received the name of Psidium cattleyanum, promises to become a very valuable addition to stone fruits; and, both for its appearance and its flavour, merits attention. There is a specimen in one of the hot-houses belonging to the Horticultural Society, which is as thriving and elegant a tree as can well be imagined. The tree is about ten feet high, and trained something in the fan shape, till the outside branches have a width of sixteen feet. The bark of the tree is of a soft ash colour, with a very slight trace of brown, and smooth, but not glossy. The leaves are beautiful and vigorous, and, when we last saw it (18th May), a great profusion of well set fruit was in progress—a greater number, indeed, than we recollect ever to have seen upon any other delicate hot-house tree. That the fruit would, properly managed, come to the same maturity in the average of situations, in this country,

as in those places of which it is a native, there cannot be the least doubt; and it has this advantage over most other fruit trees, whether indigenous or exotic, that it produces two crops in the year.

We have already had to describe many fruits which are indigenous to Africa, in noticing those of the temperate climates. As we leave the northern parts of that continent, and approach the Equator, the date, the vine, and the fig, are no longer seen. There is, indeed, a fruit, that of the Lote-tree (Rhamnus lotus), which bears some resemblance to the berries of Europe, and which Mungo Park described as excellent. This plant is raised in our green-houses. The Cream-fruit of Sierra Leone, described by Dr. Afzelius to the African Society, grows on a lofty tree, and yields a quantity of fine white juice, from which it obtains its name. The fruits of the interior of Africa have been but little examined by Europeans; and their very names are unknown to us, with a few exceptions. They are, probably, of little worth. Of those that have not been found in any other quarter of the world, the most singular are the following:

THE AKEE-Blighia sapida.

This is a native of Guinea, from whence it was carried to Jamaica by Captain Bligh in 1793. It has grown well in the West Indies, and is there much esteemed as a fruit. It was introduced into England in 1793. The leaves of the akee are something similar to those of the ash: the flowers are small and white, and are produced in branched spikes. The fruit is oblong, ribbed, and compressed in the middle, of a dull orange colour, and contains several large seeds, to the end of which is attached

a rich and slightly acid arillus (the outer coat of a seed lightly attached to it), which is the part eaten..

THE NEGRO PEACH, OR EDIBLE PEACH.

The tree on which the negro peach is produced is very handsome, with lanceolate leaves, resembling those of the orange. The flowers are white, and grow closely clustered in little round heads, like those of the American button-wood, so common in shrubberies. The tree has flowered in the gardens of the Horticultural Society, but has not borne fruit in this country. The fruit is about the size of an ordinary peach, but very different in colour and qualities. Externally and internally it is brown, of varying shades its form is irregular, and the whole surface covered with tubercles. About one-third of the diameter in the centre consists of a very firm and somewhat dry pulp, of a flavour resembling an apple. Between that and the rind, the pulp is of softer consistency, full of seeds and fibres, and has a flavour resembling the strawberry.

MONKEY'S BREAD-Adansonia digitata.

This tree is a native of the western coast of Africa, and also of Egypt. In the former country it is described by Adanson as being a tree of large dimensions and singular economy. The trunks were about twelve or fourteen feet high, but of the vast circumference of sixty or seventy feet. The lateral branches were forty or fifty feet long, of the thickness of a great tree, and with their remote branches touching the ground; while some of the roots that had been laid bare were upwards of a hundred feet long, and even then were not exposed for their whole length. The fruit is from nine to twelve inches long, and about four in diameter, of a brownish colour, and rather pointed toward the extremities. The pulp is a little farinaceous, mixed with fibres: when recent, it has a very refreshing, acid taste; and eaten with sugar, it is both pleasant and wholesome. It retains its cooling qualities when dry; and, on that account, the physicians of Cairo administer it in fevers and other diseases.

CHAPTER X.

FRUITS OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS, AND THE SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. PINE-APPLE; MAMMEE; ANCHOVY-PEAR; CUSTARD-AP

ALLIGATOR-PEAR;

PLES; WILD PLUMS; STAR-APPLE; CACTUS; PAPAW; GRENADILLAS; COCOA-NUT; CASHEW-NUT; JUVIA.

THE PINE-APPLE-Bromelia.

THE earliest exchanges of tropical plants that took place between the Portuguese in the east, and the Spaniards in the west, have not been recorded with