sturtevant's notes on edible plants 45 



forms. For many years a Mr. Smith,' Cambridge, Massachusetts, has cultivated var. 

 oblongifolia in his garden and in 1881 exhibited a plate of very palatable fruit at the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society's show. The berries are eaten in large quantities, 

 fresh or dried, by the Indians of the Northwest. The frmt is called by the French in 

 Canada poihs, in Maine sweet pear ^ and from early times has been dried and eaten by the 

 natives. It is called grape-pear in places, and its fruit is of a purplish color and an agree- 

 able, sweet taste.' The pea-sized fruit is said to be the finest fruit of the Saskatchewan 

 country and to be used by the Cree Indians both fresh and dried.^ 



A. vulgaris Moench. amelanchier. 



Mountains of Europe and adjoining portions of Asia.^ This species has long been 

 cultivated in England, where its fruit, though not highly palatable, is eatable. It is valued 

 more for its flowers than its fruit.' 



Ammobroma sonorae Torr. Lennoaceae. 



A leafless plant, native of New Mexico. Col. Grey, the original discoverer of this 

 plant, found it in the country of the Papago Indians, a barren, sandy waste, where rain 

 scarcely ever falls, but " where nature has provided for the sustenance of man one of the 

 most nutritious and palatable of vegetables." The plant is roasted upon hot coals and 

 ground with mesquit beans and resembles in taste the sweet potato " but is far more 

 delicate." It is very abundant in the hills; the whole plant, except the top, is buried in 

 the sand.'' 



Amomum, Scitamineae. cardamom. 



The aromatic and stimulant seeds of many of the plants of the genus Amomum are 

 known as cardamoms, as are those of Elettaria. The botanical history of the species 

 producing the varioiis kinds is in much confusion. One species at least is named as under 

 cultivation. 



A. angustifolivim Sonner. great cardamom. 



Madagascar. This plant grows on marshy grounds in Madagascar and affords in 

 its seeds the Madagascar, or great cardamoms of commerce. It is called there longouze.^ 



A. aromaticuin Roxb. 



East Indies. The fruit is used as a spice and medicine by the natives and is sold 

 as cardamoms. 



A. gramim-paradisi Linn, grains of paradise. 



African tropics. The seeds are made use of illegally in England to give a fictitious 



' Smith, B. G. Note by Sturtevant. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 804. 1879. {A. botryapium) 



Johns, C. A. Treas. Bot.i:$o. 1870. 



* Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Ph. 2:604. 1832. (A. ovalis) 

 Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 356. 1879. 

 Johns, C. A. Treas. Bot. i-.^o. 1870. 



' Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 2:1260, 1261. 1876. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 821. 1879. 



