Chrysobalanus
(from chrysos, gold, and balanos, an acorn; in reference to the yellow fruit of some of the species). TRIBE Chrysobalaneae of ORD. Rosaceae. Stove or greenhouse trees, with simple leaves, and racemes or panicles of insignificant flowers. Fruit edible. Sandy loam is the best soil for this genus. The best method of propagation is by seeds, when they are procurable. Large cuttings, however, taken off at a joint, without shortening any of their leaves, will root readily if planted thinly in a pot of sand, and placed in moist heat, with a bell glass over them.
C. Icaco. Cocoa Plum. fl. white; panicles axillary, dichotomous. fr. about the size of a plum, ovate-roundish, varying much in colour, but most commonly purple, and usually covered with a kind of bloom; the skin is thin, and the pulp white, adhering firmly to the stone; the taste is sweet, with some austerity, but not unpleasant. l. nearly orbicular, or obovate, emarginate. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Florida, &c., 1752. Stove. (G. C. 1871, 586.) C. oblongifolius (oblong-leaved). fl. white; panicles terminal. May and June. fr. olive-formed, nearly dry. l. oblong, or oblanceolate, a little crenulated, sometimes tomentose beneath. h. 1ft. Florida, &c., 1812. Greenhouse.