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Environment


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TheDalNsmF ,Jly 14, 19S 617


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Plant now to save the mamey, cashew, calabash
I grew up in the Virgin Islands people, te tee is known as r aamy -from South America may have arin theVirgin island, especialy
eating a variety of ruits, from man- de Santo Domingo. In Portuguese it brought cashews to the Caribbean in dry areas This ea grows about
goes to kenips. Back then, every- is called abricore, or abico doPara. OiSee in Pre-Columbian times. The tree 20 to 30 feet or more in beigh and
body's yard had some kind of fuis In English the fruit it known as DavIS grows about 20 fee in height and 6 a foot or more in trnmk diameter,
aeeplaned. mumee ormamm apple. inches in run diameter. he ark The bark is smoothish or slightly
During the summers, we kids he mamey ee grows 601to 70 is light gay to smoothish brown. scaly, becoming fissured and is
roamed the countryside, picking fee high, wi a trnk 3 to 4 feetin I becoming slightly ssed. light brown or ray. The loves
fruits and going to the beach. We diameter. The leaves are glossy, The leaves are oblongoval, with mnsly in cluast of three o fr v
'had fun throwing mangoes, or leathery,drk gree and boad. yellowishpinkflowers. Thenut of wih lateal branches.
whateverfruits we d inour bags The flowers have four to ix purpes, from treating parasitic the cashew tree ise he true rui Flowers and ui are found on
intothese asd divingforthem. whitpetls with orange stmes or skin diseases to being an watched at he end of a yellow or the trunk as well as on branches.
Those were he god old days. pistil or both. The fruit is nearly anmi fradulls(it getnd red, spoogy, flesty firlidie stu- The giant fruits, some small, have
Today, the envbiromen is diffeaet. round or somewhat irregularly e wonis) e which is very juicy and pleas- thi, bard shells with whitish pulp
WheW frit-tranforttsoncc stood, shaped, with a short, thick stem. Th casw is anaw it u as toaet.lsidethepoisonout ll and dark bown eeds inside. The
roads, shopping centers and other The fruit's skin is ligh-brown or that once grew wild in the Virgin is a large, curved seed which is the calabash fruithas been used to
developmensare found. grayish-brow with smal, scaten d Islands but now is extis excepti edible ashew nu. The ree flowers make bowls, jup, cups, wer con-
Many fruit trees ihnt oce grew wants n the skin. Inide. he frit's cunivated easaround-hommcsoron fom February to May and the fruit taincms and tcsils, as well as one-
wild in abundance throughout the flesh is golden yellow to orange, farms The cashew ree isrive o manues m omn April to Augus. mens and musical instruments.
Vigin Islandsare now rae. with two or more black seeds, Brail. I the 16th century, t ee ostshe w nuts are popular The pulp of the fruit is poi-
Recenlly, I took some children dependingonthe size of the fruit. was introduced by Portuguee worldwide. The fruits are eaten ubu isused medicinally. Th
on a hiketotheCledoniamin for- Thefruitiseeni, stewcdin traders to Moambique and ctal fresh o n preserves, whichhave seds ar cooked and eate
est and we came across a mamey fruit salad, pies, ans or made into India as a suoinert o sop e ho- been used to make vinegar and T
ree. None of he children recog- foen sherbet, ice eam, etc. The sion along he cos. wine. The verycid oil of the nut's Tp itpciwe
nized the mamey tree, much less .mamey also has insecticidal value From there the tree spread and shell has been based medicinally and m plant ow.
knew what the frui looked like. to control cockroaches, ants, dry- grew wild, forming extensive to preserve book bindings, carved Olaee Davis, who ds amas
The nnmey tre is native to he wood termites, mosquioes and forest on nearby islands. Evenual- wood and other items. The flowers e ofcience degree in range m
West Indies and nonrther South other insect psts. Different pap s of ly it spread to East Africa, Central re aractive to bees, which makes atemt andforesoy ecology, is a
America Among Spanish-speaking the plant are used for medicinal America and throughout the topics. the cashew a hony plant. St. Croix ecologist, activist and
Historians suggest that Indians The calabash re once Vas pop- writer.


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