The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-02-26

recurve. revealing one of Natures mar
wells. Each valve is found to hold two
lines OF seeds, each enveloped in a fan
tastic jacket of deep, clear blue. What
for? That is more than can tell, but
the bony bananas make very pretty orna-
ments in botanists collection.
One OF the most stately trees seen
in Honolulu is the mango Compact in
its growth its foliage is dense, con
sisting 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 trop-
ical tree are OF course persistent. Fol
lowing the flowers, which are not more
snowy than those of our native sumacs,
comes fruitage which bends low the
sturdy boughs of the tree. Nature OUT
did herself in forming and painting the
mango. The curves of its outline are
iaultessly graceful-the fruit ovoid,
but flattened little, and with the two
sides unequally developed, giving it
something OF comma shape. The fruit
when ripe is rich yellow, with the side
exposed to the sunlight crimsoned, as in
red-cheekedapples. But then there are
as many varieties of mango as OF apple.
A beautiful sight, but as yet a rare
one in Honolulu, is litchi tree (nephe-
elium litchi) in full fruit. AT little
distance 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-
tans single large brown seed, sur
rounded by juicy, but rather firm pulp
like that of a 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 sugges-
ton OF smokiness that leaves you divid
ed in your mind whether you care to try
another. If you decide in favor of such
trial, you may come to understand how
the Chinaman can consider this the most
luscious OF all fruits.
There is nothing beautiful about a
glava tree, except its white, rose-like
blossoms, and its profusion OF golden
yellow fruit. The habit OF the tree or
bush is Struggling, the foliage coarse
and often disfgured by black fungus
growth. 1t is rarely planted, but it grows
spontaneously on the uplands and in the
valleys, forming, over extensive tracts,
a dense chaparral Thousands OF tons
OF the fruit go to waste every year
Under Annexation we may expect
that these will be manufactured into
delicious Jelly, for which there should be
a good demand.
The plebian guava has all aristocratic
cousin, called the mandarin guava, which
forms an ornamental tree OF consider
able 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, globular red, and quite
acid, though OF an agreeable flavor 1t
is known as the strawberry guava.
The orange family is well represented
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 more luxuriant
growth than in California, but are not
more prolific.
A characteristic plant in Honolulu,
about the houses of natives is
the papaya. An erect trunk, generally,
but not always unbranched, bearing at
the summit cluster of large palmatcly
lobed or divided leaves, fifteen to twenty
inches in diameter on petioles two feet
long, in the aXil of each, in the female
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
lnelon-like in size and structure, obovoid
and four TO five inches in diameter, but
the peppery seeds are surrounded with a
1eshy covering. A plant will ripen sew
cral OF these fruits each week for sew
eral years. The male tree produces great
panicles of white blossoms having
delicious spicy fragrance.
Another tree during the summer
months will attract especial notice by
Is tempting display OF fruit; this is the
avocado, more commonly known as the |
alligator pear, Persea gratssima. The
rec is not usually large, nor is its foil
lge particularly attractive-the rather
oarse, somewhat rough, obovate leaves
tx or eight inches long. The fruit is
commonly elongated pear shapc-some-
ines club shaped, occasionally curved
ike crooknecked squash, but also
quite spherical, smooth skin
led. green until quite mature, then in
ONE varieties, suddenly changing to
ark purple like that of the egg plant
rult in others becoming somewhat yell
owish. The weight might range from
ight to thirty ounces, according to the
ariety, or rather according to the indi-
ldual tree, for each seems to be law
nto itself. The fruit contains a single