184 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



tion of coffee, but the first who has particularly described it, is Prosper Alpinus,' 1591, 

 and 1592. The Venetians seem to be the next who used coffee. This beverage was 

 noticed by two English travellers at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Biddulph * 

 about 1603 and William Finch ' in 1607. Lord Bacon * mentions it in 1624. M. Theve- 

 not' taught the French to drink coffee on his return from the East in 1657. It was 

 fashionable and more widely known in Paris in 1669. Coffee is said to have been first 

 brought to England in 1641, but Evelyn * says in his diary, 1637. It was first publicly 

 known in London in 1652. According to other accotints, the custom of drinking coffee 

 originated with the Abyssinians, by whom the plant had been cultivated from time imme- 

 morial, and was introduced to Aden in the early part of the fifteenth century, whence its 

 use gradually extended over Arabia. 



Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the Dutch transported the plant to 

 Batavia, and thence a plant was sent to the botanic gardens at Amsterdam, where it 

 was propagated, and in 17 14 a tree was presented to Louis XIV. A tree was imported 

 into the Isle of Bourbon in 1720. One account asserts that the French introduced it to 

 Martinique in 1 7 1 7 and another states that the Dutch had previously taken it to Surinam. 

 It reached Jamaica in 1728. It seems certain that we are indebted to the progeny of a 

 single plant for all the coffee now imported from Brazil and the West Indies. It was 

 introduced to Celebes in 1822.' In Java and Sumatra, the leaves of the coffee plant are 

 used as a substitute for coffee.* In 1879, four trees were known to have been grown and 

 successfully fruited in Florida. 



C. liberica Hiem. liberian coffee. 



Tropical Africa. This seems to be a distinct species, which furnishes the Liberian 

 coffee. It was received in Trinidad from Kew Gardens, England, in 1875.' 



Coix lacryma-jobi Linn. Gramineae. job's tears. 



Tropical Asia. The seeds may be ground to flour and made into a coarse but nourish- 

 ing bread which is utilized in times of scarcity." 



Cola acuminata Schott & Endl. Sterculiaceae. colanut. gooranut. kolanut. 



Tropical Africa. This tree, a native of tropical Africa, is cultivated in Brazil and 

 the West Indies. Under the name of cola or kolla or goora-nuts, the seeds are 

 extensively used as a sort of condiment by the natives of western and central tropical 

 Africa and likewise by the negroes in the West Indies and Brazil." There are several 



Phillips, H. Comp. Orch. 105. 1831. 

 > Ibid. 

 Ibid. 



* Ibid. 



'Phillips, H. Comp. Orch. 106. 1831. 



Ibid. 



' Wallace, A. R. Malay Arch. 251. 1869. 



' Hanbury, D. Sci. Papers 84. 1876. 



Prestoe Rpt. Bol. Card. Trinidad 21. 1 880, 

 "> Long Hist. Jam. 3 : 83 1 . 1 774. 

 "Smith, A. Treas. Bol. i-.iii. 1870. 



