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Chrysophyllum (From chrysos gold and phyllon)

(from chrysos, gold, and phyllon, a leaf; referring to the colour of the under side of the leaves). Star Apple. ORD. Sapotaceae. Stove evergreen trees. Flowers disposed in axillary, umbellate fascicles; corolla campanulately rotate, with a five-parted, spreading limb. Fruit globose, one to ten-celled. Leaves alternate, entire. These plants are grown principally on account of their ornamental foliage, as the fruit is not produced until they have assumed a very considerable size. They require potting in sandy loam, and peat, in the proportion of two parts of the former to one of the latter. An abundance of heat and moisture is needed during the growing season, but less during winter, though they must then by no means be allowed to suffer from want of water, or the result will be the loss of many leaves, and consequent disfigurement. Chrysophyllums may be increased by cuttings of small, well-ripened shoots, plunged in strong moist heat, or by seeds, when procurable.

C. argenteum (silvery-leaved). This species differs from C. Cainito only in the silvery under surface of the leaves. West Indies, &c. C. Cainito (Cainito). fl. whitish, small. May. fr. large, rather depressed, rose-coloured, mixed with green and yellow; skin smooth and glabrous; flesh soft, clammy, sweet, and hispid. l. oblong, acute at the base and apex, 3 1/2in. to 4in. long, quite glabrous above, but silky and rusty beneath. Branches clothed with silky rusty down. h. 30ft. to 50ft. West Indies, 1737. C. macrophyllum (large-leaved).* l. oblong-lanceolate, 6in. to 8in. in length, and 2in. to 3in. in breadth, deep green above, densely clothed on the under side when young with rich golden, silky hairs, which gradually turn to chestnut-brown. h. 50ft. Sierra Leone, 1824. A rare but magnificent plant. The foliage assumes its full proportions when young.

C. monopyrenum (one-stoned). fl. whitish, small. fr. shining, purplish-black, in form like a small date. l. alternate, oval. 4in. to 5in. long, 2in. broad. h. 30ft. West Indies, 1812. (B. M. 3303.)