In South America there are some trees known as "cow-trees" which, when wounded, yield a rich, milky, nutritious juice in such abundance as to render it an important article of food. This fluid resembles in appearance and quality the milk of the cow.

The cow-tree is a member of the bread-fruit family, and is most common in Venezuela, growing to the height of a hundred feet. The leaves are leathery, about a foot long and three or four inches broad.

In British Guiana the name is given to another large, much-branched tree, and there are also other varieties in Para and along the Rio Negro, which is a tributary of the Amazon River.