most popular of Oriental fruits, and the trees would probably succeed in many of the Southern States and in California. It is now on trial in Florida, having been introduced there in 1886. It has been fruited in England many times, but always under glass, where the plants receive protection and artificial heat. A full description of this species, accompanied by a superb colored plate of the Nephelium or Dimocarpus Longana, appeared in the "Transactions of the London Horticultural Society," 1818, p. 402. There are not only a large number of species of the Nepheliums bearing edible fruit, but, as might be expected from their long and extensive cultivation, many local varieties, especially in the southern provinces of China and throughout the islands of tropical Asia. The Dawa of the Fiji islands is the fruit of N. pinnatum, a tree growing sixty feet high, and forming extensive forests on those islands. At some future time we may be receiving the dawas under the name of Fiji nuts. LOUSY NUT.-See Earth chestnut. MARKING NUT.-The seeds of Semecarpus Anacardium, an evergreen tree of the cashew-nut family (Anacardiaceœ), native of tropical Asia, and especially Ceylon. It has large, oblong leaves, and grows about fifty feet high, and the fruit is produced on a fleshy receptacle. The natives roast and eat these nuts, and the black juice obtained from the green fruit is used for marking cloth, hence the common name. The juice is also mixed with lime to make an excellent indelible ink, also for a kind of varnish. MIRITI NUT OR ITA PALM NUT.-These are the Indian names of the fruit of a lofty palm tree, the Mauritia flexuosa, of the swamps along the Orinoco river, also in wet soils at higher elevations. This giant palm grows to a hight of a hundred and fifty feet, with an immense crown of large, fan-shaped leaves, and just beneath these the fruit appears in a pendulous cluster eight to ten feet long, containing several bushels, weighing, altogether, from one to three hundred pounds The individual nuts are about the size of an ordinary apple, with a very smooth shell, somewhat veined or streaked. The natives of the country not only use the farinaceous kernels of these nuts as food, but obtain a saccharine material from the pith, out of which they make wine by fermentation. The petioles of the leaves also furnish them with a strong fiber, used as threadcord, and for various other purposes. MORETON BAY CHESTNUT.-See Australian chestnut. MYROBALAN NUT.-This name is applied rather indiscriminately to the fruits of several species of the genus Terminalia, which are, in the main, large trees of the Myrobalan family (Combretacea). They are native of India, Malay, Fiji, and, in fact, almost all the islands of the Pacific in warm latitudes. The fruits are similar to large plums, but slightly angular, containing a hard, nut-like seed. They are used principally for tanning leather, and also for making ink similar to that made from oak galls. The kernels of all the species are edible, and are eaten by the natives. In the Fiji islands the Terminalia Catappa is a favorite tree with the natives, and they plant it near the houses. The kernels of this species have the flavor of the sweet almond. NICKAR NUT.-The seeds of two species of Guilandina, a genus of the bean family (Leguminosa). They are climbing plants, with hard-wooded, prickly stems, forming almost impenetrable thickets near the seacoast in the East Indies and other tropical countries. They have become widely distributed, as the pods readily float when they drop into the water. The pods are about three inches long, very prickly, containing seeds or nuts about the size of small marbles, and exceedingly hard; but in time the water softens them, after which they sprout and grow when cast upon the shore by the waves. The two species are distinguished mainly by the color of the nuts, those of G. Bonduc being yellow, and those of G. Bonducella gray, or with a reddish tint. Of no value or use except as botanical curiosities. NITTA OR NUTTA NUT.-The native African name of the seeds of Parkia Africana, a tree of the sensitivetree section of the bean family (Leguminosa). It grows about forty feet high, and has compound winged leaves. It has become naturalized in the West Indies. The pods grow in clusters, the seeds imbedded in a yellowish, sweet pulp, like the carob or St. John's bread, and the negroes are very fond of them. In the Soudan the seeds are roasted, and then allowed to ferment in water until they are soft and putrid, after which they are washed, pounded and dried, then made up into cakes to be used. as a sauce for different kinds of food. It is supposed that the African traveler, Mungo Park, first brought these seeds or nuts to the notice of Europeans, and Robert Brown named the genus Parkia in his honor. NUTMEG. A name applied to the fruits of a large number of trees, and of different orders of plants. The true nutmegs of commerce are the fruits of trees belonging to the genus Myristica, and of the family Myristicaceœ. The oldest and best known of these is the M. fragrans, a small, widely branching tree, growing twenty to twenty-five feet high, and supposed to be indigenous to the Indian Archipelago. The fruit is about the size of an ordinary walnut, with a thick rind, which, upon opening, at maturity, discloses a reddish aril covering the nut within. This aril or husk is the mace of commerce, while the true nutmeg is the center or hard seed (nut). The Brazil nutmeg is longer than the true species, and is sold under the name of long nutmeg, and is the fruit of M. fatua. Another species, the M. otoba, is cultivated in Madagascar, but is scarcely known in commerce. Another species, the M. sebifera, is a common tree in the forests of Guiana, North Brazil, and up into Panama. It is utilized principally for the oil extracted from the nuts, obtained by macerating them in water, the oil rising to the surface, and as it cools skimmed off. The seeds of several species of conifers and laurels are known, either locally or in commence, as nutmegs, or are used as a substitute for the true nutmeg. There are three different kinds of trees, native of Guiana, in addition to the one already named, the seeds of which are employed as a spice or medicine. One of these is the Acrodiclidium camara. These nuts are known in commerce as "Ackawai nutmegs," and are used mainly as a cure for diarrhoea and colic. Another is the seed of the Aydendron Cujumary tree, and they are known in commerce as "Cujumary beans," although they are not, strictly speaking, a bean, and the same is true of the so-called "Puchurim beans," from the same country, for they are the fruit of Nectandy Puchury, a small tree of the laurel family. They are used as a tonic, and considered highly stimulating. Clove Nutmeg, or Madagascar nutmeg of commerce, is the fruit of Agathophyllum aromaticum, a small evergreen tree, indigenous to Madagascar. Brazilian Nutmegs are the highly aromatic seeds of Cryptocarya moschata, or Atherosperma moschata of some botanists. It is a lofty tree, native of Brazil. The aromatic nuts are used as a substitute for nutmegs, but are very inferior to the genuine. Peruvian Nutmeg, or Plum Nutmeg.-The seeds of a large evergreen tree with aromatic foliage, like our common sassafras, and for this reason is sometimes called Chilean or Peruvian sassafras. The seeds are of no more economic value than those of our native sassa fras. It is known under various botanical names, but Laurelia sempervirens is, perhaps, the most familiar. California Nutmeg, or Stinking Nutmeg, is the nut-like seed of Torreya Californica, a small tree of the yew family (Taxaceae). The fruit is from an inch to an inch and a half long, with a fleshy rind enclosing a hard, long nut, which is slightly grooved like a nutmeg. The fruit, leaves and wood are strongly scented, hence the name of "stinking nutmeg," or "stinking yew." Another species, the T. taxifolia, is a native of Florida. OIL NUT.-The fruit of a low-branching, deciduous native shrub, growing three to ten feet high, with alternate leaves and small greenish flowers in terminal spikes. It is the Pyrularia oleifera of Gray, and Hamiltonia oleifera of Muhlenberg. The fruit is in the form of a pear-shaped drupe, about an inch long, the small seed or nut with an oily kernel of strong acrid taste; of no value. This shrub is found on shady banks in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and southward into Georgia. PARADISE NUT.-See Sapucaia nut. PEANUT, GROUNDNUT, GOOBER.-The well-known fruit of Arachis hypogæa, a low-growing annual belonging to the pulse or pea family (Leguminosa), supposed to be a native of South America, but now extensively cultivated in nearly all semi-tropical countries and wherever the summers are long enough to insure the ripening of the seeds. Extensively cultivated in Virginia, south and westward. Too well known to require any further comment or notice here. PECAN NUT.-See Chap. VII. PEKEA NUT. -See Souari nut. PERUVIAN NUT.-See Nutmegs. PHYSIC NUT.The seeds of Jatropha Curcas, a small tree of the spurgewort family (Euphorbiacea). It is native of some of the West Indies and warmer parts |