. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . as five-lobed leaves and purple flowers, withoblong fruit, larger than any European pear, filledwith a mucilaginous pulp, of a scent and flavourthat nothing can exceed. Another has the same leafand flavour, but fruit in the form and size of anapple, the pulp of which has a vinous are many other sorts, but these are describedas the best. The grenadillas generally, which arecalled parchas by the Spaniards, have a pleasantsweetish acid, with a fragrance something betweenthat of a melon a
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . as five-lobed leaves and purple flowers, withoblong fruit, larger than any European pear, filledwith a mucilaginous pulp, of a scent and flavourthat nothing can exceed. Another has the same leafand flavour, but fruit in the form and size of anapple, the pulp of which has a vinous are many other sorts, but these are describedas the best. The grenadillas generally, which arecalled parchas by the Spaniards, have a pleasantsweetish acid, with a fragrance something betweenthat of a melon and a strawberrv. THE 393 Cocoa-nut— cocoa-palm is supposed to be a native of thesouth-east of Asia, and is found wild in some of thesmall islands off the shores; but it has been intro-duced into almost every part of the tropical quality of bearing- the neighbourhood of sea wateris very favourable to its migrations. There are livespecies enumerated and described by the botanists ;but the most valuable is the cocos nucifera, or cocoa-tree, properly so Cucua nut—{Cocos nucifera.) The nvcifera is a very tall tree, the trunk of whichis composed of hard and strong fibres, which crosseach other like net-work. There are, strictly speaking,no branches; but the leaves are from twelve to four-teen feet long, with a very strong middle rib, to eachside of which the sword-shaped leafets are flowers come out round the top of the trunk, eachcluster inclosed in a long spatha or sheath. Whenthese have arrived at maturity, the sheath opens, andthe male flowers gradually fall otf, leaving the embrjofruit. In a moist and fertile soil the cocoa-palm bearsin four years; in a dry region fruit is not produced 2 M 394 VEGEtABLE SOBSTATJCES. till it has been planted ten years. The fruit consistsexternally of a thin but tough rind, of a brownish-redcolour; beneath which there is a quantity of verytough fibrous matter, of which cordage and coarse
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