260
BOTANY.
all manner of stock are fond of it, and the little negroes luxuriate most freely upon it when in season. MAMMA SAPOTA, achras mammosa, is a splendid lofty tree, belonging to the monogynia order, class pentandria. The pistil of the flower is rather long, and is surrounded by six stamens. The fruit is globular, and is covered with a thick brown rind ; the eatable part lies between that and the large round seed, which is covered with a fine thin skin. It is very indigestible when eaten in its crude state, but makes a luscious sweetmeat, which is generally esteemed. BREAD FRUIT, artocarpus, belongs to the order monandria, and the monﾅ田ia class of plants. It was brought from Otaheite to these islands by Captain Bligh, a gentleman well known for his trials in the " Mutiny of the Bounty." This tree rises to the height of about forty feet, and is covered with a thick foliage ; the leaves are sometimes a foot and a half long, of an oblong shape, and when broken, exude a milky juice. The trunk is of a pale ash colour, with a smoothish bark ; the catkins, or male flowers, have no calyx, but are formed of valves hanging down in the form of ropes ; the corolla has two petals, and concave ; the female flower has neither corolla nor calyx, but the germs are numerous, connected into a globe. The fruit is globular, and about the size of a melon ; the rind is thick and green, and is divided hexagonally in the form of network ; the internal part is covered with a substance like thick wool. The edible part of the fruit lies between the skin and the core ; it is perfectly white, and something like new bread, but it must be roasted before eaten. The taste is insipid, but is said to afford great nourishment. The milk which oozes from the trunk, when boiled with cocoa-nut oil, makes an excellent bird-lime, and the wood is useful for building. SAPPADILLA, achras sapota, of the monogynia order, class pentandria. The calyx is a perianthum, with six erect concave leaves ; the corolla bears one petal, the full length of the cup ; the germen is globular, and becomes a pulpy