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Fruits of the Hawaiian Islands

by Gerrit Parmile Wilder

26 of 121 · Contents · Download EPUB

Spondias Dulcis — “Wi.”

This deciduous tree is said to be a native of the Society Islands, and is common to the tropics of both hemispheres. It is a large, spreading and graceful tree, reaching a height of from 30 to 50 feet. Its pinnate leaves are green and glossy; the leaflets are oval-oblong and opposite. The foliage is shed from December until April. The flowers are paniculate, small, and greenish-white. The fruit, which ripens from November until April, is a fleshy drupe, oval in shape, from 1 to 3 inches in diameter; it has a thin, smooth, golden-yellow skin, which has a rather sour disagreeable odor. The fleshy pulp is light yellow, is mellow when quite ripe, and has a sub-acid delicious flavor, compared by some to the pineapple. Within this pulp is embedded a 1 to 5 loculed, bony endocarp, which contains generally one seed. This endocarp is covered with fibres which penetrate the pulp. The first Wi tree in Hawaii was planted at the residence of Mr. John S. Walker, Nuuanu Valley.

G. P. W. Collection. Plate XXVII

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