Hymenaea courbaril Linn. Leguminosae.
A colossal tree of tropical and southern subtropical South America. The pods contain three or four seeds, inclosed in a whitish substance, as sweet as honey, which the Indians eat with great avidity, though, says Lunan, it is apt to purge when first gathered. Brown, in British Guiana, says this pulp tastes not unlike a dry cake, being sweet and melting in the mouth. It is called algarroba in Panama, jatal in Brazil and simiri in Guiana.