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Chrysophyllum (Greek, golden leaf, in reference to the color of the under surface of the leaves). sapotaceae. Handsome trees, grown far south for fruit and for ornament.
Juice milky: lvs. alternate, thick and stiff, usually shining and copper-colored or golden beneath with silky pubescence, with many parallel cross-veins: fls. small, sessile or stalked, clustered at the nodes or in the axils; calyx mostly 5-parted; corolla tubular-campanulate or somewhat rotate, mostly 5-lobed, without appendages; stamens as many as the corolla-lobes, and staminodia 0; ovary 5-10-celled: fr. fleshy and usually edible, 1- to several-seeded.—-About 60 species in tropics, the larger part American.
The various species of Chrysophyllum have beautiful broad green leaves, with under surfaces of a silky texture, varying in color from a silvery white through golden to a russet-brown, and are well worth a place in the conservatory as ornamental trees. By giving them sufficient room, they will bear fruit in the course of a few years, under glass, which in the case of C. Cainito, the star-apple of tropical America, is edible, and well liked even by people of a temperate clime. All species are strictly tropical, and cannot be grown where frosts occur unless properly protected. Propagation is ordinarily effected by seed, which readily germinate if planted when fresh, and it is stated that all species may be grown from cuttings of well-ripened shoots placed in strong, moist heat. The soil most suited for their growth is of a sandy character, and if not of a good quality should be well manured, using a considerable proportion of potash in the fertilizer for fruiting specimens. They seem to do well on a great variety of soils, however, that are sufficiently well drained, wet land not agreeing with them. (E. N. Reasoner.)
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