sturtevant's notes on edible plants 189 



C. antichorus Raeusch. 



Old World tropics. The whole plant is boiled as a potherb.' 

 C. capsularis Linn. jute. 



Cosmopolitan tropics. This plant is extensively cultivated in Bengal for its fiber, 

 which forms one of the jutes of commerce so extensively exported from Calcutta.^ It 

 was introduced into the United States shortly before 1870 and placed under experimental 

 culture,' and, in 1873, favorable reports of its success came from many of the southern 

 states. Th young shoots are much used as a potherb in Egypt and in India.* 

 C. olitorius Linn, corchorus. jew's mallow. 



Cosmopolitan tropics. This plant yields some of the jute of commerce but is better 

 known as a plant of the kitchen in tropical countries. It is cultivated in Egypt, India 

 and in France. In Aleppo, it is grown by the Jews, hence the name, Jew's mallow. The 

 leaves are used as a potherb.' 



It is mentioned by Pliny * among Egyptian potherbs, and Alpinus,' 1592, says that 

 no herb is more commonly used among the Egyptian foods. Forskal * also mentions its 

 cultivation in Egypt and notes it among the cultivated esculents of Arabia. In India, 

 it occurs wild and the leaves are gathered and eaten as spinach.' In tropical Africa, it 

 is both spontaneous and cultivated as a vegetable *" and it is in the vegetable gardens of 

 Mauritius." In Jamaica, the plant is frequently met with in gardens but has, in a great 

 measure, ceased to be cultivated, although the leaves are used as a spinach.'^ It is now 

 cultivated in French gardens for its young leaves, which are eaten in salads.'' It is 

 recorded by Btur" as in American gardens in 1863 but the plant seems not to have been 

 mentioned by other writers as growing in this country. 

 C. procumbens Boj. 



Tropical Africa. This plant was carried to the Mauritius where it is cultivated in 

 kitchen gardens.'* 

 C. siliquosus Linn, broom-weed. 



Tropical America. This plant is called ti by the inhabitants of Panama who use 

 its leaves as a tea substitute." 



' Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 1:542. 1831. (Antichorus depressus) 



'Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 57. 1876. 



U. S. D. A. Rpt. 15. 1870. 



'Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 1:329. 1870. 



Ibid. 



' Bostock and Riley Nat. Hist. Pliny 4:349. 1856. 



' Alpinius PI. Aegypt. 39. 1592. 



'Forskal Fl. Aeg. Arab, xciii, loi. 1775. 



' Speede Ind. Handb. Card. 155. 1842. (C. obtorius) 



'"Oliver, D. Fl. Trap. Afr. 1:262. 1 868. 



" Bojer, W. Hart. Maurit. 42. 1837. 



"Macfadyen /om. 1:108. 1837. 



" Vilmorin Lei Ph. Potag. 168. 1883. 



"Burr, F. Field, Card. Veg. 338. 1863. 



" Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. 380. 1879. 



"Smith, A. Treas. Bat. \:t,29. 1870. 



