The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-14

1t IS branching perennial plant, and
unlike banana, its great banners OF
leaves are so tough in texture that they
are but little. split to pieces by the wind.
The flower clusters are lateral, not ter
nainal, and the bracts are persistent, so
that the fruit is concealed from view.
You find, however, that it resembles a
bananasin shape. although only three or
four inches long. But the part of the
fruit which in the banana is the edible
pulp is tough and horny, and your Curl
osity to know what is inside subsidies
after you have tried your jackknife on it
a while. You will make a mistake,
though, if you throw the refractory
thing away, Take it home and let it lie
day in the sun and you will find that
your curiosity was justified. The tough
fruit yields to the persuasion of the
sun, and splits into three valves, which
separate and recurve, revealing one of
Natures n1arvels Each valve is found
to hold two seeds, each enveloped in
fantastic jacket of deep, clear blue.
What for? That is more than I can tell,
but the bonv bananas make very pretty
ornaments in botanist's collection.
One of the most stately trees seen in
| Honolulu is the mango. Compact in its
growth, its foliage is dense, consisting
of Interchangeable, rather rigid leaves,
SIX to nine inches long, dark green
when mature, but while young in the
spring, of a rich purple-red color; the
| new leaves contrasting with those of the
last years growth, which IN a tropical
tree are of course persistent. Following
the flowers, which are not more snowy
than those of Our native sunacs, comes
a fruitage which bends low the sturdy
Il Il, ! l..
self in forming and painting the mango
The curves of its outline are faultlessly
graceful-the fruit ovoid, but hattened a
little, and with the two sides unequally
developed, giving it something of a
comma shape. The fruit when ripe is a
i rich yellow, with the side exposed to the
sunlight crimsoned, as in red-cheeked
apples. But then there are as many
varieties of mango as of apple.
| A beautiful SIGHT, but as yet rare
one in Honolulu, is litchi tree (nephe-
lium litchi) in full fruit AT little dis
lance you would mistake the separate
fruits for exceptionally large and rich
colored strawberries, and the trees are
SO loaded that they seem a mass of
crimson. The fruit, which is about one
and a quarter inches in diameter, con-
tains a single large brown seed, sur
rounded bv juicv but rather firm pulp
like that of malaga grape, the whole
covered with rough skin, thin, but al
most woody in texture, The pulp is
sweet with flavor something like that
of musky grape, but with a suggestion
of smokiness that leaves you divided III
your mind whether you care to try an
other If you decide in favor of such
trial, you may come to understand how
the Chinaman can consider this the most
luscious of ali fruits.
There is nothing beautiful about gu
ava tree, except its white, rose-like bios
SONS, and its profusion of golden-ye1iow
fruit. The habit of the tree or bush is
struggling, the foliage coarse, and often
dishgured by a black fungus growth 1t
is rarely planted. but it grows spontans-
ously on the uplands and in the valleys,
forming over extensive tracts, dense
chaparra1 Thousands of tons of the
fruit go to waste every year. Under
annexation we NAV expect that these
will be manufactured into delicious jelly,
for which there should be a good de-
mand.
The plebian guava has an aristocratic
cousin, called the mandarin guava,
which forms an ornamental tree of con-
siderable size-its trunk and branches
smooth from exfoliation of the bark, its
foliage of rather small, obovate, thick,
shining leaves-the fruit small and quite
acid.
A third species, Psidium Cattleyana,
with similar foliage, grows only into a
small shrub, whose fruit is an inch or
less in diameter, g1obular, red. and quite
acid, though of an agreeable favor. 1t is
known as the strawberry guava.
Fa,,,,I,y C nall tad
of course, the trees, ORANGE, lime, lemon,
shaddock, citron, ETC., having a very
strong family resemblance, and all orna-
mental, particularly when in fruit. The
trees naturally have a more luxuriant
growth than in California, but are not
more prolific.
A characteristic plant in Honolulu,
especially about the houses of natives is
the papaya An erect trunk, generally,
but not always unbranched, bearing at
the summit a cluster of large palmately
lobed or divided leaves, fifteen to TWEEN
ty inches in diameter on pet1oles two
feet long, in the axil of each, in the fe-
male plant, a bud, blossom or fruit.
There will thus be always fruit in all
stages of growth, the lowest quite ripe
and yellow, the rest green. The fruit is
melon-Iike in size and structure, obovoid
and four to FIVE inches in diameter, but
the peppery seeds are surrounded with
a f1eshy covering. A plant will ripen
several of these fruits each week for
several years. The male tree produces
great panicles of white blossoms having
a delicious spicy fragrance.
Another tree during the summer
months will attkact especial notice by its
tempting display of fruit: this is the
avocado, more commonly known as the
alligator pear. Persea gratissima. The
tree is not usually large. nor is its foil
age particularly attractive-the rather
coarse, somewhat rough, obovate leaves
six or eight inches long. The fruit is
commonly elongated pear shape-some-
times club shaped. occasionally curved
IL, croc1-nnc1-nd cn,,ocI h,,t nIcn