226 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



C. glomeratus DC. 



Western states of North America. The root is edible.* 

 C. montantis Torr. & Gray, gamote. 



Western North America. This plant is called by the Mexicans gamote or camote.' 

 The root is spindle-shaped, parsnip-like but much softer, sweeter and more tender than the 

 parsnip. This root is collected largely by the Mexicans and also by the Ute and Piute 

 Indians.' 



Cynara cardunculus Linn. Compositae. artichoke, cardoon. 



Cardoon. 



Mediterranean region and common in its wild form in southern Europe and a portion 

 of central Asia. Cardoon was known, according to Targioni-Tozzetti,* to the ancient 

 Romans and was cultivated for the leaf-stalks which were eaten. Some commentators 

 say that both the Greeks and Romans procured this vegetable from the coast of Africa, 

 about Carthage, and also from Sicily. Dioscorides mentions it. Pliny * says it was much 

 esteemed in Rome and obtained a higher price than any other garden herb. In more 

 recent times, Ruellius,' 1536, speaks of the use of the herb as a food, after the manner 

 of asparagus. Matthiolus,' 1558, says there are many varieties in the gardens which are 

 commonly called cardoni by the Etruscans, and that, diligently cultivated, these are tender, 

 crisp, and white and are eaten with salt and pepper. The plant is mentioned by Parkinson, 

 1629, under the name of Cardus esculentus but its introduction into England is stated 

 to have been in 1656 or 1658. 



Cardoon is now cultivated in but few English gardens. On the continent of Europe, 

 it is regarded as a wholesome esculent and in France is much used, the stalks of the 

 inner leaves, rendered ciisp and tender by blanching, serving as a salad. Five varieties 

 are esteemed there. Townsend, ' in his tour through Spain mentions that in some parts 

 of that country they never use rennet for cheese but substitute the down of this plant 

 from which they make an infusion. In the present day, the flowers of cardoon are care- 

 fully dried and used for the same purpose. McMahon ' includes it in his list of American 

 esculents in 1806 and says " it has been a long time used for culinary purposes, such as 

 for salads, soups and stewing." Thorbum i" includes it in his seed catalogs of 1828 and 

 1882. In the Banda Oriental, says Darwin," very many, probably several hundred, square 

 miles are covered by one mass of these prickly plants and are impenetrable by man or 

 beast. Over the undulating plains where these great beds occur, nothing else can now live. 



'MueUer, F. Sel.Pls.gi. 1880. 



Torrey Pacific R. R. Rpl. 4:92. 1856. 



' Bigelow, J. M. Pacific R. R. Rpt. 4:9. 1856. 



Targioni-Tozzetti Journ. Hort. Soc. Lond. 142. 1854. 

 ' Pliny lib. 19, c. 43. 



Ruellius iVo<. 5<i>p. 643. 1536. 



' Matthiolus Comment. 322. 1558. 



Glasspoole, H. G. Ohio State Bd. Agr. Rpt. 536. 1875. 



McMahon, B. Amer. Card. Col. 581. 1806. 

 "> Thorbum Cat. 1828. 1882. 



"Darwin, C. Voy. H. M. S. Beagle 119. 1845. 



