Averrhoa
(in honour of Averrhoes, of Cordova, a celebrated Arabian physician, who resided in Spain during the domination of the Moors, about the middle of the twelfth century; he translated Aristotle into Arabic). ORD. Geraniaceae. Ornamental stove trees, thriving in loam and peat. Half-ripened cuttings will strike in sand, under a hand glass, about April, with bottom heat. The leaves of the first-named species are irritable to the touch. A. Bilimbi (Bilimbi-tree). fl. reddish purple, disposed in racemes, ??sing from the trunk. May. fr. oblong, somewhat resembling a small cucumber, with a thin, smooth, green rind, filled with a grateful acid juice, and the substance and seeds not unlike that of a cucumber. l. alternate, with from five to ten pairs of ovate-lanceolate, entire, smooth leaflets on short stalks. h. 8ft. to 15ft. Native country unknown, 1791. (B. F. S. 117.) A. Carambola. Carambola-tree. fl. red, scattered, disposed in short racemes, usually rising from the smaller branches, but sometimes from the larger ones, and even the trunk. fr. the size of a hen's egg, acutely five-cornered, with a thin, yellow rind, and a clear watery pulp. l. alternate, with about four to five pairs of ovate, acuminated, entire, stalked leaflets, the outer ones largest. h. 14ft. to 20ft. 1793. This, as well as the first-named species, is cultivated throughout the hotter parts of India, but where it occurs truly wild is not known.