200 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



Nuttall ' says the plant is found at Key West, Florida, and that the fruit is eaten by the 

 Indians in time of scarcity while the unripe fruit is candied with sugar. 



Crithmum inaritimum Linn. Umbelliferae. samphire, sea fennel. 



Europe. This is a seaside plant, foiuid on rocky shores from the Crimea to Land's 

 End, England, and extends even to the Caucasus. The whole plant is " of a spicie taste 

 with a certaine saltnesse " on which account it has been long held in great repute as an 

 ingredient in salads. It was declared by Gerarde* to be "the pleasantest sauce." 

 Samphire is cultivated in English gardens for its seed pods, which make a warm, aromatic 

 pickle, and for its leaves, which are used in salads,' but it is oftener collected from the 

 shores. In Jamaica, as Titford * declares, it forms an agreeable and wholesome pickle. 

 In France, it is cultivated for its leaves which, pickled with vinegar, enter into salads and 

 seasonings.* The first mention of its culture is by Qiiintyne,' in France, 1690; it is again 

 mentioned by Stevenson,' in England, 1765; and its use as a potherb by the poor, as well 

 as a pickle, is noticed by Bryant,* 1783. It is noticed in American gardens in 182 1.' 



Crocus cancellatus Herb. Irideae. 



Asia Minor. This plant is said by Unger '"to be brought to market in Damascus, 

 when the bulb is about sprouting, and is much prized as a vegetable. 



C. sativus Linn, saffron. 



Greece and Asia Minor. This plant was formerly cultivated in England and is now 

 spontaneous. It is cultivated in Austria, France and Spain for the deep, orange-colored 

 stigmas of the flowers, which are used for coloring. It was not cultivated in France before 

 the Crusades, the bulbs from Avignon being introduced about the end of the foiirteenth 

 century." Loudon '^ says saffron is used in sauces and for coloring by the Spaniards and 

 Poles. In England and France, it enters into creams, biscuits, preserves and liquors 

 and is used for coloring butter and cheese. The Mongols use it in cooking.*' Under the 

 Hebrew name, carcom, the plant is alluded to by Solomon; and as krokos, by Homer, Hippo- 

 crates, Theophrastus and Theocritus. Virgil and Columella mention it and Cilicia and 

 Sicily are both alluded to by Dioscorides and Pliny as localities celebrated for this drug. 

 Throughout the middle ages, frequent notices are found of its occurrence in commerce 

 and in cultivation. 



' Nuttall, T. No. Amer. Sylva 2:136. 1865. 



Johns, C. A. Treas. Bot. 1:348. 1870. 



Loudon, J. C. Enc. Pis. 213. 1855. 



< Titford, W. J. Hort. Bot. Amer. 51. 1812. 



' Bon. Jard. 5/^g. 1882. 



' Quintyne CoOT^. Card. 105. 1693. 



' Stevenson Card. Kal. 102. 1765. 



Bryant Fl. Diet. 136. 1783. 



Cobbett, W. Amer. Card. 159. 1846. 

 " Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 311. 1859. (C. edidis) 

 ^^ Card. Chron. 671. 1848. 

 " Loudon, J. C. Enc. Agr. 943. 1866. 

 "Smith, P.P. Contrib. Mat. Med. China 189. 1871. 



