'64 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



leaf of piper-betle over which a little quick-lime is laid, then rolled up and chewed alto- 

 gether.* It tinges the saliva red and stains the teeth. Whole shiploads of this nut, so 

 universally in use among the Eastern natives, are exported annually from Simiatra, Malacca, 

 Siam and Cochin China. The heart of the leaves, according to Seemann, is eaten as a 

 salad and has not a bad flavor as Blanco writes.* 



A. glandiformis Lam. 



Moluccas. In Cochin China the leaves are chewed with the betel nut.' 



A. laxa Buch.-Ham. 



Andaman Islands. The nuts of this plant are used instead of the betel nut by the 

 convicts confined on Andaman Islands.* \ 



Arenaria peploides Linn. Caryophylleae. sea chickweed. 



North temperate and Arctic regions. In Iceland, the plant is fermented and in that 

 state used as food, like sauerkraut; the plant also forms a wholesome vegetable when 

 boiled ^ and is used for a pickle.' 



Arenga saccharifera Labill. Palmae. areng palm. 



Tropical eastern Asia. This palm has been called the most useful of all palms. 

 Griffith ^ says, the young albumen preserved in sugar forms one of the well-known pre- 

 serves of the Straits. Brandis * says, the heart of the stem contains large quantities of 

 sago, and the cut flower-stalks yield a sugary sap of which sugar and palm-wine are made. 

 Graham ' says, at Bombay this palm affords tolerably good sago and the sap, palm-wine 

 and sugar. Seemann'" says, the bud, or cabbage, is eaten. The sap, of which some three 

 quarts a day are collected, furnishes toddy and from this toddy, jaggery sugar is prepared. 

 The seed, freed from its noxious covering, is made into a sweetmeat by the Chinese. From 

 the pith, a species of sago is prepared which, however, has a peculiar flavor. 



Argania sideroxylon Roem. et Schult. Sapotaceae. argan tree, morocco iron-wood. 

 Morocco. From the seeds, the natives extract an oil that is used for cooking and 

 lighting. When ripe, the fruit, which is an egg-shaped drupe, falls from the trees and 

 the goats then enter into competition with their masters for a share in the harvest. The 

 goats, however, swallow the fruit only for the sake of the subacid rind and, being vmable 

 to digest the hard seeds, eject them during the process of rumination, when they are gath- 

 ered and added to the general store for oil making." 



' Ainslie, W. Mai. Ind. 2:270. 1826. 



Seemann, B. Pop. Hist. Palms 56. 1856. 

 Loureiro CocAin. 1:568. 1790. 

 'Griffith, W. Palms Brit. Ind. ng. 1850. 



' Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Gt. Brit. 54. 1862. 



Balfour, J. H. Man. Bol. 445. 1875. (Honkeneja peploides) 

 'Griffith, W. Palms Brit. Ind. 164. 1850. 



Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 551. 1874. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 335. 1879. 

 "> Seemann, B. Pop. Hist. Palms 64, 67. 1856. 

 " Pharm. Joum., Trans. 1878. 



