Edible Plant Species

Blepharis edulis Pers. Acanthaceae.
Persia, Northwestern India, Nubia and tropical Arabia.
The leaves are eaten crude.

Blighia sapida Kon. Sapindaceae. AKEE FRUIT.
Guinea.
This small tree is a native of Guinea and was carried to Jamaica by Captain Bligh in 1793. It is much esteemed in the West Indies as a fruit. The fruit is fleshy, of a red color tinged with yellow, about three inches long by two in width and of a three-sided form. When ripe, it splits down the middle of each side, disclosing three shining, jet-black seeds, seated upon and partly immersed in a white, spongy substance called the aril. This aril is the eatable part. Fruits ripened in the hothouses of England have not been pronounced very desirable. Unger says, however, the seeds have a fine flavor when cooked and roasted with the fleshy aril.