Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1891 — THREE EGGS ON ONE BUSH. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THREE EGGS ON ONE BUSH.

A Fruit That Cannot Be Distinguished from the Product of the Hen. Among the many curious things in the plant- world, such as flowers that eat flies, the Holy Ghost plant, that bears a white dove in its petals, and others equally interesting, there is none more curious than the solanum gatatrum, a recent addition to Golden Gate Park conservatory, says the San Francisco Examiner. This plant bears hard-boiled eggs for fruit. At least the fruit resembles a hard-boiled egg, with the shell off, as nearly as a truly egg can. There are three eggs on the park plant—one as large as a pigeon’s egg, another the size of a turkey's product and the third is about five and a half inches long by two and a half wide. In color they are identical to the bluish-white of the cooked article of hen production. It is akin to thj purple egg-plant, an article of food extensively sold in San Francisco markets, and is equally

as palatable and nutritious. The blossom is small, of a rich purple hue, and when the flower drops off a littl? white egg is seen. This grows to about the size of its cousin, the pearshaped egg-plant of commerce. But the white variety preserves its perfect egg-shape in all stages of its development. It thrives in the open air wherever the purple plant grows, and is cultivated in the same way. Another variety of the same family bears a golden-yellow fruit, but the white variety is the only one in which the fruit is of the ovoid form. When pressed between the fingers the white fruit is found to possess the same soft, elastic feeling as a hardboiled egg. The interior is filled with cells and small seeds, like the purple plant or the tomato. Aside from its utility as an article of food, it is prized for its rarity and beauty. The plant stands about two feet high, and has broad, soft, oval leaves of dark green. The fruit possesses one defect. It cannot be hatched into broilers.

THE HARD-BOILED EGG PLANT.