sturtevant's notes on edible plants 83 



Barringtonia alba Blume. Myrtaceae. bottle-brush tree. 

 Moluccas. The yoimg leaves are eaten raw.' 



B. butonica Forst. 



Islands of the Pacific. This plant has oleaginoiis seeds and fruits which are eaten 

 green as vegetables.' 



B. careya F. Muell. 



Australia. The fruit is large, with an adherent calyx and is edible.' 



B. edulis Seem. 



Fiji Islands. The rather insipid fruit is eaten either raw or cooked by the natives.* 



B. excelsa Bltime. 



India, Cochin China and the Moluccas. The fruit is edible and the young leaves 

 are eaten cooked and in salad.' 



Basella rubra Linn. Chenopodiaceae. malabar nightshade. 



Tropical regions. This twining, herbaceous plant is cultivated in all parts of India, 

 and the succulent stems and leaves are used by the natives as a pot-herb in the way of 

 spinach.* In Burma, the species is cultivated and in the Philippines is seemingly wild 

 and eaten by the natives.' It is also cultivated in the Mauritius ' and in every part of 

 India, ^ where it occurs wild.'" Malabar nightshade was introduced to Europe in 1688 '^ 

 and was grown in England in 1691,'^ but these references can hardly apply to the vege- 

 table garden. It is, however, recorded in French gardens in 1824 and 1829.'' It is grown 

 in France as a vegetable,'* a superior variety having been introduced from China in 1839.'* 

 According to Livingstone, it is cultivated as a pot-herb in India.'* It is a spinach plant 

 which has somewhat the odor of Ocimum basilicum.^'' The species is cultivated in almost 

 every part of India as a spinach, and an infusion of the leaves in used as tea.'' It is 

 called Malabar nightshade by Europeans of India." 



Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. 6:350. 1880. 



Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. 6:350. 1880. (B. speciosa) 



' Palmer, E. Journ. Roy. Soc. New So. Wales 17:94. 18 



Seemann, B. Fl. Viti. 82. 1865-73. 



'Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. 6:350. 1880. {B. coccinea) 



Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 145. 1874. (B. alba) 

 'Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 696. 1879. (B. alba) 



Boier Horl. Maurit. 270. 1837. 



Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 66. 1858. (B. alba) 

 "Wight, R. Icon. Pis. 896. 1843. 

 " Noisette Man. Jard. 559. i860. 

 " Martyn Miller's Card. Diet. 1807. 

 " Pirolle L'Hort Franc. 1824. 

 " Robinson, W. Parks, Card. Paris 503. 1878. 

 " Bon Jard. 432. 1882. 



' Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 66. 1858. (B. alba) 

 " Mueller, F. Sel. Pis. 66. 1891. 

 " Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 66. 1858. (B. alba) 

 " Ibid. 



