Book VIII, Chapter XXXIV

Of the tree called tembixque and its fruit in the Mainland

Translated by Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert

Earlier in Chapter XXXII the tree and fruit called tembixque were described, and this chapter will deal with another tree which, although resembling it in name, is very different. Tembixque is a large tree, like a large walnut, and very green, and its leaf is like that of a laurel or bay tree; but this leaf is greener and broader, and in the Indian settlements and towns of Nicaragua, especially in Tezoatega and Guazama and other places, the Indians plant them near their houses, because they offer a pleasant shade and resemble bay trees, except that they are fuller trees. Its fruit is somewhat bigger than the thick and fat olives from Seville, or as big as small walnuts; but these are green, and their rind is like that of plums or a bit thicker. And they cook this fruit and eat it prepared, and it is good, healthy, and sweet, and their pit is smooth, like those of small olives, and inside the pit there is a hard and bitter seed.

Image retrieved from John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.