Ackee (Blighia sapida) is a Jamaican favorite despite its lethality. The yellow part of the fruit is boiled and served with salted fish. The scientific name honors Captain William Bligh who took the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, England in 1793 and introduced it to science. The fruit was imported to Jamaica from West Africa likely on a slave ship. The fruit contains the toxins hypoglycin A and B which when ingested uncooked leads to Jamaican vomitting sickness and hypoglycemia. It is a major export from Jamaica ($4.5 million US).
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