CLUB. 



A/£ 



W YO 



vC 



Botanical Gazette. 



Vol. VIII. 



NOVEMBER, 1883. 



No. 11. 



Notes on Edible Plants. II. 



DILLENIACEiE. 



The Water-tree of Sierra Leone is Tetracera alnifolia, so 

 called on account of its climbing stems yielding a good supply 

 of clear water when cut across (A. Smith). The fruit of most 

 of the species of Dlllenia are acid, and are used by the natives 

 of India in their curries, while the enlarged fleshy calyx of the 

 ripe fruit is used in the preparation of acid beverages and in 

 stews. D. ettiptica, Thunb., has fruit the size of an orange, sub- 

 mucilaginous, and eaten in the Eastern Archipelago (Unger) ; 

 D. pentagyna, Roxb., has flower-buds and round fruit of a 

 pleasant acid flavor, which, as well as the ripe fruit, are eaten 

 raw or cooked in Oudh and the Central Provinces of India 

 (Brandis) ; in Chittagong the fleshy calyx leaves of D. scabrella, 

 Wall., of a pleasant acid taste, are eaten in curries (Wallich), 

 while in Burmah the fruit of D. seabra is brought to the bazaars 

 while green, and is considered a favorite vegetable (Mason) ; 

 D. serrata, Thunb., furnishes a mucilaginous and sub acid fruit 

 in the Eastern Archipelago, while in India the large thickened 

 calyices of the fruits of D. speciosa are gathered for use, cooked 

 with sugar, as a sauce (Firminger). The acid juice of the fruit 

 also serves the natives as a vinegar (Pickering). In Japan 

 Actinidia arguta, a vine common about Yesso, bears an oblong 

 greenish berry about an inch in length. The pulp is of uni- 

 form texture, the seeds minute and the skin thin. When ripe 



