THE BUTTER TREE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 188, 27 July 1900, Page 4

THE BUTTER TREE.

It 5s said that by far tbe most remarkable of plants that produce edible flowers is the " butter tree " of Tndia. Its blossoms during the hot months of the year are tbe chief means of fubsistence of tbe Bhils and other hill tribes of the interior, TJnder tbe o'd Mahratta rule it was a common practice to cut down the butter tree in the country of the Bhils, eo as to afflict, those lawless peop'e and bring them to straits. A good sized tree yields several hundredweight of the pulpy, bell-shaped flowers in a season. In March and April they fall off and are gathered eagerly by the natives. When fresh they have a peculiar and luscious taste with an odour that has been described as somewhat suggestive of mice. Usually they are dried in the sun, shivelling to about one-fourth of their original size. In this condition they resemble raisins somewhat. They are prepared by boiling or in sweetmeats. Jackals, bears, wild pigs, and deer are extravagantly fond of the blossoms; in fact almost every animal, wi'd or domestic, eats them greedily. Sometimes they are baked into cakes. There are immense forests of these butter trees in India and the flowers may some day become an important article of commerce They are produoed in vast quantities, affording drink ob well as food to whole populations. They secrete more than half their weight in sugar, and yield a good deal of that substance for domestic use. A powerful alcoholic beverage, somewhat resembling Irish whiskey in flavour, is distilled from them, it is a diffusible stimulant like brandy and is largely consumed by the inhabitants of the mountainous tracts of the central tableland of India; in fact, this is the liquor of the country and eveiy village has a little shop for the sale of it. Many of the distilleries are located in the very heart of tbe forest.