Akee (Cupania or Blighia sapida), a fruit-tree belonging to the natural order Sapindaceæ (q.v.), a native of Guinea, introduced into Jamaica in the end of last century. It grows to the height of 20–25 feet or upwards, with numerous branches and alternate pinnate leaves, resembling those of the ash. The flowers are small, white, on axillary racemes; the fruit is about the size of a goose's egg, with three cells and three seeds, and its succulent aril has a grateful subacid flavour. The fruit is little inferior to a nectarine. The akee sometimes produces fruit in hot-houses in Britain.—The AKI of New Zealand is a totally different plant, Metrosideros buxifolia, of the natural order Myrtaceæ; at first a shrub, which climbs by the aid of lateral roots, it thus attains the summit of the loftiest trees, which ultimately decay, but not until the parasite is strong enough to stand by itself.
À Kempis, THOMAS. See KEMPIS.