Of the trees and fruits called icacos[1] or cocoplum.

Translated by Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert

Icaco is a tree whose leaves resemble those of the arbutus or strawberry tree, although its fruit is very different. The tree is no bigger than the strawberry tree and its fruit is like a small apple. Some are white and others crimson or red, and some almost black. It is not among the best fruit, nor is it bad or harmful. The pit is large in relation to the small quantity of edible fruit (since what is there to eat is so little) and you get at it by gnawing hard; it is, therefore, not a good delicacy for the gums. The fleshy part that can be eaten is very white, and never comes off the pit so quickly that it is not necessary to return to it, almost chewing on the pit, to remove the fruit. The skin or peel has some similarities with the skin on the faces of she-monkeys, since no matter how young a female monkey is its wrinkled face makes it look old, and likewise the apples of these icacos or fruit are always covered in wrinkles no matter how fresh they are. The icaco fruit is good for aiding bowel movements, and the tree if wild, like all those I write about in this Book VIII; they grow naturally in this and many other islands and the Mainland; and they are born by themselves and fill up many forests and jungles, although some are also cultivated, and there are men who delight in all forms of agriculture and plant them to produce better fruit. These trees are fond of the sea air, and for the most part are always found near the seashore, or not too far from it, and thus can grow on very light and sandy soil.

[1] Crysobalanus icaco (cocoplum or paradise plum).