Bread-nut

Bread-nut, the fruit of Brosimum alicastrum, a native of Jamaica, an artocarpaceous tree closely allied to the bread-fruit. The bread-nut tree is diœcious, with ovate-lanceolate evergreen leaves, and abounds in a tenacious gummy milk. Its leaves and young shoots are much eaten by cattle, but deleterious qualities are said to be developed in them as they become old. The fruit is a one-seeded drupe, and the kernels, boiled or roasted, form an agreeable article of food, and are eaten instead of bread. Their taste resembles that of hazel-nuts.—The Palo de Vaca, or Cow-tree (q.v.), of Demerara is often referred to the same genus.—B. aubletii of British Guiana and Trinidad yields heartwood of a rich deep mottled brown, hence called letterwood, snakewood, or leopardwood. It is chiefly used for veneering.