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G. P. W. Collection.

Eriobotrya Japonica.

LOQUAT.

PLATE LXXXV

The Loquat has been for many years a familiar fruit in our gardens, and is a native of China and Japan. It is a low evergreen tree with thick foliage, and in congenial climates is a prɔfuse bearer. Its leaves are thick, oblong, and remotely toothed and grow near the ends of the branches. The white flowers grow in clusters, are very fragrant, and the fruit, which also ripens in clusters, about Christmas time, is pear-shaped, and has an agreeable acid flavor. The seeds are large, and germinate readily. Fine grafted and budded varieties have been introduced by local horticulturalists.

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G. P. W. Collection.

PLATE LXXXVI

Litchi Chinensis.

“LICHEE."

This tree, with its dense foliage, is a native of Southern China. The first tree of this variety was brought to Hawaii by Mr. Afong, and planted at his residence in Nuuanu avenue, Honolulu, in the year 1870.

The leaves are alternate, and abruptly pinnate; the oblong leaflets are not quite opposite. Flowers pale green, small and regular, producing bunches of reddish-colored fruits, each about the size of a small walnut. They are covered with a parchmentlike skin having many soft spines. The interior consistss of large seed covered with a whitish pulp of a sweetish acid flavor; this pulp when dried in the shell becomes somewhat shriveled, brownish in color, and very sweet.

The fruiting season is in July, and as there are but few trees here that bear, high prices are obtained for this rare fruit, which is much prized by the Chinese. Fresh seeds will germinate, but it requires so many years for these seedlings to bear that grafted and budded plants are imported from China.

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G. P. W. Collection.

PLATE LXXXVII

Euphoria Longana.

LONGAN.

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This tree is a native of India and Southern China. duces its flowers and fruits at about the same time of year as does the Litchi, which it somewhat resembles, although its fruits are somewhat smaller and less palatable. The tree grows to a height of about 20 feet. It has large, alternate, pinnate leaves, and the oblong leaflets are not quite opposite; they are glossy on the upper surface, and a dusty-brown on the underside. The small flowers come in terminal panicles; and the fruit, which is borne in clusters, has a thin, brittle, somewhat rough shell. There is one large, smooth, hard seed, around which is a thin layer of sweetish, aromatic pulp. The best fruits raised here are those grown by the Chinese.

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