SPINACEOUS PLANTS. 



269 



Spinach Spinacia oleracea. 



SPINACH Spinacia oleracea. The native coun- 

 try of the common spinach, and the time of its intro- 

 duction into Britain, are not precisely known. 



The west of Asia is assigned as its native country, 

 but on what grounds are not very clearly shown, 

 except that the earliest notice we find of it is in the 

 works of the Arabian physicians, who of course only 

 treat of its supposed medicinal properties, which might 

 probably have originally led to its adoption as an 

 edible vegetable. Spain is supposed to have been 

 the first European country into which it was int x ro- 

 duced, for many of the old botanists call it olus 

 hispanicum ; while some writers, among whom is 

 Ruellius, distinguish it as atriplex hispaniensis, and 

 the latter adds that the Moors call it hispanach or 

 Spanish plant. According to Beckmann, the first 

 notice of its being used as an edible substance in 

 Europe occurs in the year 1351, in a list of the 



VOL. xv. 23* 



