196 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



who gathered it in a wild state and preserved it in barrels for use during long voyages.^ 

 Although Crambe is recorded by Pena and Lobel,' Dalechamp,' Gerarde,* and Ray ' as 

 wild on the coast of Britain and as fit for food, yet it was brought into English culture 

 from Italy,' a few years preceding 1765, and the seed sold at a high price as a rarity. In 

 1778,' it is said to " be now cultivated in many gardens as a choice esculent;" in 1795,' 

 it was advertised in the London market. According to Heu/.e,' it was first cultivated 

 in France by Quintyne, gardener to Louis XIV, but it is not mentioned in Quintyne 

 of 1693; it, however, is mentioned by the French works on gardening of 1824'" and 

 onward. Parkinson notices it in England in 1629 and Bryant" does also, about 1783, 

 but Philip Miller ^^ first wrote upon it as an esculent in 1731, saying the people of Sussex 

 gather the wild plants in the spring. It is recorded that bundles of it were exposed for 

 sale in the Chichester markets in 1753 but it was not known about London until 1767. 

 In 1789, Lightfoot *' speaks of "the young leaves covered up with sand and blanched 

 while growing," constituting when boiled a great delicacy. Sea kale is now very popular 

 in English markets and is largely used in France, the blanched stems and leaf-stalks being 

 the parts used. It is mentioned by McMahon,'* 1609, in his list of American esculents. 

 In 1809, John Lowell, Roxbury, Massachusetts, cultivated it and in 1814 introduced it 

 to the notice of the public. In 1828, Thorbum.'^in his seed catalog of that year, says 

 it "is very little known in the United States, though a most excellent garden vegetable 

 and highly deserving of cultivation." The same might be said now, although its seeds 

 are advertised for sale in all leading seed lists. 



C. orientalis Linn. 



Asia Minor and Persia. Pallas " says the Russians use it. Its roots resemble those 

 of horseradish, but they are often thicker than the himian arm. The root is dug for the 

 use of the table as a substitute for horseradish, and the younger stalks may be dressed 

 in the same manner as broccoli. 



C. tatarica Jacq. tartar bread-plant. 



Eastern Europe and northern Asia. This is a plant of the steppes region along the 



' Mcintosh Book Card. 103. 1855. 

 ' Pena and Lobel Advers. 92. 1570. 

 ' Dalechamp Hist. Gen. PI. (Lugd.) 526. 1587. 



* Gerarde, J. Herb. 248. 1597. 

 ' Ray Hist. PL 838. 1686. 



' Stevenson Gard. Kal. 22. 1765. 



' Ma we and Abercrombie Univ. Gard. Bot. 1778. 



' Gard. Chron. 2S:(>26. 1886. New Series. 



Heuze, G. Pis. Alim. 2:667. 1873. 

 ' PiroUe L'Hort. Franc. 1824. 



" Bryant Fl. Diet. 124. 1783. 



^ MiWet Gard. Diet. 1731. ist Ed. 



" Lightfoot, J. Fl. Scot. 1:364. 1789. 



" McMahon, B. Amer. Gard. Cat. 583. 1806. 



" Thorbum Cat. 86. 1828. 



" Pallas, P. S. Trav. Russia 1:373. 1802. 



