156 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



Centaurea calcitrapa Linn. Compositae. caltrops, star thistle. 



Europe, north Africa and temperate Asia. The young stems and leaves, according 

 to Forskal,' are eaten raw in Egypt. 



C. chamaerhaponticuin Ball. 



Mediterranean coasts. In Algeria, according to Desfontaenes,' the root is edible 

 and not unpleasant to the taste. 



C. pygmaea Benth. & Hook. f. 



Mediterranean covmtries. The roots have an agreeable flavor and are eaten by the 

 Arabs in some parts of Africa.' 



Centranthus macrosiphon Boiss. Valerianeae. long-spurred valerian. 



Spain. Valerian is an annual cultivated in gardens for its handsome, rose-colored 

 flowers and is used as a salad in some countries, notably in France. It appears to combine 

 all that belongs to com salad, with a peculiar slight bitterness which imparts to it a more 

 distinct and agreeable flavor. 



C. ruber DC. fox's brush, red valerian. 



Red Valerian is said to be eaten as a salad in southern Italy.* 



Centrosema macrocarpum Benth. Leguminosae. 



British Guiana. The beans are eaten by the Indians, according to Schomburgk.* 

 The leaves, according to A. A. Black, are also eaten. 



Cephalotaxus drupacea Sieb. & Zucc. Coniferae. plum-fruited yew. 



Japan. The female plant bears a stone-fruit closely resembling a plum in structure. 

 The flesh is thick, juicy and remarkably sweet, with a faint suggestion of the pine in its 

 flavor.' 



Ceratonia siliqua Linn. Leguminosae. algaroba bean, carob tree, locust bean. 

 ST. John's bread. 

 This tree is indigenous in Spain and Algeria, the eastern part of the Mediterranean 

 region, in Syria; ^ and is found in Malta, the Balearic Islands, in southern Italy, in Turkey, 

 Greece and Grecian Islands, in Asia Minor, Palestine and the north of Africa.* It was 

 found by Denham ' and Clapperton 1 in the Kingdom of Bomu, in the center of Africa. 

 The pods being filled with a saccharine pulp, are eaten both green and dry and were a 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 140. 1879. 



' Black, A. A. Treas. Bol. 2:970. 1870. {Rhaponlicum acaule) 



Hooker and Ball Marocco, Gt. Atlas 292. 1878. {Cynara acaidis) 



Thompson, W. Treas. Bot. 1:247. 1870. 

 'Hooker, W.J. Journ. Bot. 2:$(f. 1840. 



Brooks, W. P. Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc. 52. 1890. 

 'Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 166. 1874. 



'Hooker, W.J. Journ. Bot. l'.ll\. 1834. 



Ibid. 

 Ibid. 



