sturtevant's notes on edible plants 85 



B. vahlii Wigh,t & Am. maloo creeper. 



East Indies. The pods are roasted and the seeds are eaten. Its seeds taste, when 

 ripe, like the cashew-nut. 



B. variegata Linn, mountain ebony. 



East liidies, Burma and China. There are two varieties, one with purplish, the 

 other with whitish flowers. The leaves and flower-buds are eaten as a vegetable and 

 the flower-buds are often pickled in India.' 



Beckmannia erucaefonnis Host. Gramineae. 



Europe, temperate Asia and North America. According to Engelmann,^ the seeds 

 are collected for food by the Utah Indians. 



Begonia barbata Wall. Begoniaceae. begonia. 



East Indies and Burma. The leaves, called tengoor, are eaten by the natives as a 

 pot-herb.' Hooker * says the stems of many species are eaten in the Himalayas, when 

 cooked, being pleasantly acid. The stems are made into a sauce in Sikkim. 



B. cucullata Willd. begonia. 



Brazil. The leaves are used as cooling salads. 



B. malabarica Lam. begonia. 



East Indies. Henfrey * says the plants are eaten as pot-herbs. 



B. picta Stn. begonia. 



Himalayas. The leaves have an acid taste and are used as food. 



Bellis perennis Linn. Compositae. English daisy. 



Etirope and the adjoining portions of Asia. Lightfoot ^ says the taste of the leaves 

 is somewhat acid, and, in scarcity of garden-stuff, they have been used in some covmtries 

 as a pot-herb 



Bellucia aubletii Naud. Melastomaceae. 



Guiana. A tree of Guiana which has an edible, yellow fruit.'' 



B. brasiliensis Naud. 



Brazil. The fruit is edible.* 



Benincasa cerifera Savi. Cucurbitaceae. wax gourd, white gourd, white pumpkin. 



Asia and African tropics. This annual plant is cultivated in India for its very large, 



handsome, egg-shaped gourd. The gourd is covered with a pale greenish-white, waxen 



'Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 161. 1874. 



' Brewer and Watson Bot. Cal. 2:264. 1880. 



Royle, J. F. lUtistr. Bot. Himal. 1:313. 1839. 



Hooker, J. D. Illustr. Himal. Pis. PI. XIIL 1855. 

 Henfrey, A. Bot. 282. 1870. 



Lightfoot, J. Fl. Scot. 1:487. 1789. 



' Syme, J. T. Treas. Bot. 147. 1870. (Blakea quinquenervia) 

 Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. 7:34. 1881. 



