STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 225 



C. medullaris Swartz. black-stemmed tree-fern. 



The pith of this plant, a coarse sago, is eaten in times of scarcity in New Zealand. 

 In the Voyage of the Novara it is said that the whole stalk, often 20 feet high, is edible 

 and is sufficient to maintain a considerable niimber of persons. The pith, when cooked 

 and dried in the sun, is an excellent substitute for sago. It is also to be found in Queensland 

 and the Pacific isles.^ 



Cycas circinalis Linn. Cycadaceae. sago palm. 



Tropic^ eastern Asia and the Malayan Archipelago. Captain Cook speaks of the 

 inhabitants of Prince Island eating the nuts, which poisoned his hogs and made some of 

 the crew sick. He adds, however, that they are sliced and dried and after steeping in 

 fresh water for three minutes and dried a second time they are eaten in times of scarcity 

 as a food, mixed with rice. In Malabar, Drury says a kind of sago prepared from the nuts 

 is much used by the poorer classes. Pickering ^ says on the Comoro Islands it is a common 

 esciilent; Blanco ^ says on the Philippines its fruit is sometimes eaten; Rumphius * says it is 

 eaten on the Moluccas; J. Smith ^ says a kind of sago is obtained from the stem. 



C. revoluta Thunb. 



Subtropical Japan. Thimberg * says a small morsel of the pith of the stem is sufficient 

 to sustain life a long time and on that account the plant is jealously preserved for the use 

 of the Japanese army. The drupes are also eaten. J. Smith ' says it occtirs also in China 

 and New Guinea. 



Cyclopia genistoides Vent. Leguminosae. bush tea. 



South Africa. An infusion of its leaves is used as a tea.' 



C. subternata Vog. 



South Africa. This is also a tea substitute, according to Church.' 



Cymbidiimi canaliculatum R. Br. Orchideae. 



Australia. The tubers of this plant are used by the blacks of Wide Bay.*" 



Cymopterus fendleri A. Gray. Umbelliferae. 



Texas and New Mexico. This plant emits, when in decoction, a peculiarly strong 

 and pleasant odor. It is sometimes used as a stuffing for mutton." 



' Smith, J. Dom. Bot. 171. 1882. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 304. 1879. 



' Ibid. 



' Ibid. 



' Smith, J. Dom. Bot. 146. 1882. 



Thunberg, C. P. Fl. Jap. 229. 1784. 



'Smith, J. Diet. Econ. Pis. 1^6. 1882. 



Church Card. Chron. 20:766. 1883. 



' Ibid. iC. vogelii) 



"Palmer, E. Journ. Roy. Soc. New So. Wales 17:97. li 

 Rothrock, J. T. U. S. Geog. Sun. Bot. 6:45. 1878. 



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