124 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



continent, the leaves of the box have been used as a substitute for hops in beer, but 

 Johnson ' says they cannot be wholesome and would probably prove very injurious. 



Bjrrsonima crassifolia H. B. & K. Malpighiaceae. 



A small tree of New Granada and Panama. The small, acid berries are eaten.* 



B. spicata Rich, shoemaker's tree. 



Tropical America. The yellow, acid berries are good eating but astringent.' 



Cadaba farinosa Forsk. Capparideae. 



A shrub of tropical Africa and Arabia. Spinach is made from the leaves.* 



Caesalpinia pulcherrima Sw. Leguminosae. peacock flower, pride of Barbados. 



Cosmopolitan tropics. The green seeds are eaten raw and have the taste of peas.* 



Cajanus indicus Spreng. Leguminosae. angola pea. catjang. congo pea. dahl. 

 grandue. no-eye pea. pigeon pea. toor. urhur. 

 East Indies. The pigeon pea is a perennial shrub, though treated generally as an 

 annual when in cultivation. It is now naturalized in the West Indies, in tropical America 

 and in Africa. The variety Bicolor grows from three to six feet high and is called the 

 Congo pea in Jamaica. The variety Flavus grows from five to ten feet high and is called 

 in Jamaica no-eye pea, pigeon pea and Angola pea.* Dr. MacFayden ^ says there are few 

 tropical plants so valuable. Lunan ' says the pea when young and properly cooked is 

 very little inferior as a green vegetable to English peas and when old is an excellent ingredient 

 in soups. Berlanger ' says at Martinique there are several varieties greatly used, and that 

 the seeds both fresh and dried are delicious. In Egypt, on the richest soil, says Mueller,'" 

 4000 pounds of peas have been produced to the acre, and the plant lasts for three years, 

 growing 15 feet tall. This variety is said by Pickering " to be native of equatorial Africa. 

 In India, the seeds of the two varieties are much esteemed, ranking, with the natives, third 

 amongst their leguminous seeds. '^ Elliott " says the pulse when split is in great and general 

 esteem and forms the most generally used article of diet among all classes in India. At 

 Zanzibar, the seeds are a principal article of diet. It is both cultivated and wild all over 

 India as well as in all parts of tropical Africa. It certainly is one of the oldest cultivated 



' Johnson, C. P. Useful Ph. Gr. Brit. 228. 1862. 



' Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 1:185. 1870. {B. cumingiana) 



Ibid. 



* Speke, J. H. Journ. Disc. Source NUe 561. 1864. 

 ' Proc. Amer. Acad. Art. Sci. 425. 1886. 



Smith, A. Treas. Bot. \:i&<). 1870. 

 ' Macfayden Jam. 1:296. 1837. 



' Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 2:64. 1814. 



Berlanger Trcms. N. Y. Agr. Soc. 568. 1858. 

 ">MueUer, F. Sel.Pls.&2. 1891. 



" Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. ^Z- 1879. (C. flavus) 

 " Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 95, 1858. 

 "Elliott, W. Bol. Soc. Edinb. 7:294. 1863. 



