66 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



ing in water. Arracacha yields, according to Boussingault,' about i6 tons per acre. The 

 plant is also found in the mountain regions of Central America. The roots are nutritious 

 and palatable and there are yellow, purple and pale varieties.^ Attempts to naturalize 

 this plant in field culture in Europe have been unsuccessful. It was introduced into 

 Europe in 1829 and again in 1846, but trials in England, France and Switzerland were 

 unsuccessful ' in obtaining eatable roots. It was grown near New York in 1825 * and at 

 Baltimore in 1828 or 1829 ^ but was found to be worthless. Lately introduced into India, 

 it is now fairly established there and Morris considers it a most valuable plant-food, 

 becoming more palatable and desirable the longer it is used. It is generally cultivated ' 

 in Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador, and in the temperate regions of these coun- 

 tries, Arracacha is- preferred to the potato. The first account which reached Europe 

 concerning this plant was published in the Annals of Botany in 1805. It was, however, 

 mentioned in a few words by Alcedo,* 1789. 



Artemisia abrotanum Linn. Compositae. old man. southernwood. 



Europe and temperate Asia. This artemisia forms an ingredient, says Lindley, in 

 some continental beers. 



A. absinthium Linn, absinthe, wormwood. 



Cultivated in Europe and in England in cottage gardens on a large scale. Bridge- 

 man,' 1832, is the first writer on American gardening who mentions absinthe but now 

 its seeds are cataloged for sale by all our larger dealers. It is classed among medicinal 

 herbs but is largely used in France to flavor the cordial, absinthe, and in America in com- 

 pounding bitters. The seed is used by the rectifiers of spirits and the plant is largely 

 cultivated in some districts of England for this purpose. It is said occasionally to form 

 an ingredient of sauces in cookery. 



A. dracunculus Linn, tarragon. 



East Europe, the Orient and Himalayan regions. Tarragon was brought to Italy, 

 probably from the shores of the Black Sea, in recent times. The first mention on record 

 is by Simon Seth, in the middle of the twelfth century, but it appears to have been scarcely 

 known as a condiment until the sixteenth centtiry.*" It was brought to England in or 

 about 1548." The flowers, as Vilmorin says, are always barren, so that the plant can 

 be propagated only by division. Tarragon cultttre is mentioned by the botanists of the 

 sixteenth century and in England by Gerarde," 1597, and by succeeding authors on gar- 



' Morton Cyc. Agr. i:io8. 1869. {A. esculenta) 



' Mueller Sel. Pis. 50. 1891. 



' Heuze Pis. Aliment. 2:509. 1873. 



*New Eng. Farm. July 22, 1825. 



' ODuper Farm. Libr. 94. 1847. 



'Card. Chron. 26:50. 1886. {A. esculenta) 



' De CandoUe, A. Orig. Cult. Pis. 40. 1885. 



Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 3:378. 1834. 



Bridgeman Young Gard. Asst. 108. 1857. 

 '" Targioni-Tozzetti Journ. Hort. Soc. Land. 148. 1854. 

 [" Mcintosh, C. Book Gard. 2:167. i855- 

 " Gerarde, J. Herb. 11)3. 1597. 



