Miraculous Fruits of West Africa. (Sideroxylon dulcificum, A. DC.) Author(s): J. M. H. Source: Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Vol. 1906, No. 5 (1906), p. 171 Published by: Springer on behalf of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4111298 Accessed: 27-06-2016 08:41 UTC

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This content downloaded from 137.99.31.134 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 08:41:25 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 171 glabra; segmenta linearia, 07 mm. lata, praesertim versus apices minutissime serrata; rhachis anguste alata. Sori quasi-axillares ad rhachin ; involucrum breviter ovatum, integrum vel minutis- sime dentatum. BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. Mount Mlanji, 2400 m., Thomasset.

XXVII.--MIRACULOUS FRUITS OF WEST AFRICA. (Sideroxylon dulcificum, A. DC.)

Travellers in tropical Africa have frequently drawn attention to the existence of a plant whose fruit could change the flavour of the most acid substance into a delicious sweetness. The plant is a member of the natural order Sapotaceae. It is known to the Fante races as assarbah, and in the Accra and Adampe districts of the Gold Coast as tahm'. It is indigenous to Ashante, and extends to Popo, Dahomey, Yoruba, and many districts in the Gulf of Guinea. The tree is seldom found near the coast. The largest quantities of fruits are obtained from a considerable distance inland, and from localities with rich and loamy soils. A full account of the plant is given in the Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. XI. (1852), pp. 445-448, by Dr. Daniell, under the name of Synsepalum dulcificum. In De Candolle, Prodromus VIII., p. 183, it is described as Sideroxylon dulcificum, DC., the name now adopted. It is a small tree or shrub with leaves four to five inches long, crowded at the ends of the branches. The flowers are small and numerous, produced in the axils of the leaves. The fruit resembles a small plum with the seed invested in a thin soft pulp, wherein lies the peculiar sweetening property. A somewhat similar property to that described as existing in Sideroxylon dulcificum is also said to exist in a plant belonging to the natural order Scitamineae. This is the, katemfe or katemphe of the Akoos and other Yoruba tribes, and is the "miraculous fruit of the Soudan." It is described in the Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. XIV. (1855), p. 159, as Phrynium Danielli, Bennet, the name under which it is now known being Thaumalococcus Danielli, Benth. With regard to the Sideroxylon fruits Mr. W. H. Johnson, Director of Agriculture, Gold Coast, informs me that he has found them particularly useful when taking quinine for fever, and that if a lemon be sucked within two or three hours of eating one of the fruits its acid flavour is entirely counteracted. With the view of having the properties of these plants investi- gated plants were obtained from Lagos in 1889, and distributed to India and several of the Colonies, but as yet no record concerning them has been received at Kew. J. M. H.

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