STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 223 



Cudrania javanensis Tree. Urticaceae. 



Tropical Asia, Africa and Australia. The fruit is a compound, irregularly-shaped 

 berry as large as a small custard apple, formed of the enlarged fleshy perianths and 

 receptacle, each perianth enclosing a one-seeded nut.' The fruit is edible and of a 

 pleasant taste. ^ 



Cuminum cyminum Linn. Umbelliferae. cumin. 



Mediterranean region. This is a small, annual plant indigenous to the upper regions 

 of the Nile but was carried at an early period by cultivation to Arabia, India and China, 

 as well as to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean.' It is referred to by the 

 prophet Isaiah * and is mentioned in Matthew.* Pliny * calls it the best appetizer of 

 all the condiments and says the Ethiopian and the African are of superior quality but 

 that some prefer the Egyptian. During the Middle Ages, cvmiin was one of the species 

 in most common use and is mentioned in Normandy in 716, in England between 1264 

 and 1400 and is enumerated in 141 9 among the merchandise taxed in the city of London. 

 It is mentioned in many of the herbals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and 

 is recorded as under cultivation in England in 1594.'^ In India, the seeds form an ingre- 

 dient of curry powders and pickles * and in France find use in cookery.' In Holland, 

 cheeses are sometimes flavored with cimiin. The seed is occasionally advertised in Ameri- 

 can seed catalogs " but is probably very rarely grown. 



Cupania americana Linn. Sapindaceae. 



Mexico. The sweet, chestnut-like seeds are used in the West Indies as a food." The 

 seeds have the flavor of chestnut or sweet acorns and are used on the banks of the Orinoco 

 to make a fermented liquor.*^ 



Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. Amaryllideae. 



Tropical Asia. In the Mariana Islands, the roots are eaten.^ 



Curcuma amada Roxb. Scitamineae. amada. ginger, mango. 



East Indies. The fresh root possesses the smell of a green mango and is used in 

 India as a vegetable and condiment.'* 



Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 425. 1876. 

 'Mueller, F. Sel. Pis. 137. 1891. 



Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 331. 1879. ' 



Isaiah c. 28, 25-27. 

 ' Matthew c. 23, 23. 



Pliny lib. 19, c. 47. 



' Miller Card. Die/. 1807. 



Dutt, U. C. Mat. Med. Hindus 173. 1877. 



' Vilmorin Lei Pis. Polag. 199. 1883. 

 "VickCa/. 1884. 



" Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 315. 1859. (C. tomentosa) 

 "Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. 5:387. 1878. 

 "Moore, T. Treas. Bot. 1:363. 1870. (C. stans) 

 " Dutt, U. C. Mat. Med. Hindus 257. 1877. 



