230 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



Cynometra cauliflora Linn. Leguminosae. nam-nam. 



East Indies and Malays. The fruit in shape resembles a kidney. It is about three 

 inches long and the outside is very rough. It is seldom eaten raw but, fried with batter, 

 it makes a good fritter. Wight ' says the fruit is much esteemed in the Eastern Islands. 



Cjrperus bulbosus Vahl. Cyperaceae. 



Africa and East Indies. Drury * says the roots are used as flour in times of scarcity 

 in India and are eaten roasted or boiled, tasting like potatoes. Royle' says they are 

 palatable. 

 C. esculentus Linn, chufa. earth almond, zulu nuts. 



South Europe and north Africa; introduced in America and now runs wild on the 

 banks of the Delaware and other rivers from Pennsylvania to Carolina. The roots are 

 very sweet and are eaten by children.'* The chufa was distributed from the United States 

 Patent Office in 1854 and has received a spasmodic culture in gardens. It is much culti- 

 vated in southern Europe, Asia and Africa, becoming of importance at Valence, in Galicia, 

 and in the environs of Rosetta and Damietta, Egypt.' In Hungary, it is grown for the 

 seeds, to be used as a coffee substitute,' but in general for its tubers which are sweet, 

 nutty and palatable. These bulbs, says Bryant,' are greatly esteemed in Italy and some 

 parts of Germany and are frequently brought to table by way of dessert. At Constan- 

 tinople, the tubers appear in the markets and are eaten raw or made into a conserve.* 

 Gerarde, 1633, speaks of their extensive use in Italy, and of their being hawked about the 

 streets and, at Verona, eaten as dainties.' They now appear in the English markets 

 under the name of Zulu nuts.'" The chufa must also have been esteemed in ancient 

 times, for tubers have been found in Egyptian tombs of the twelfth dynastj', or from 

 2200 to 2400 years before Christ. '' Notwithstanding the long continued culture of this 

 plant, there are no varieties described. 

 C. papyrus Linn, papyrus. 



Sicily, Syria and tropical Africa. This plant is the ancient papyrus. Hogg '^ says 

 it was used as food by the ancients, who chewed it either raw, boiled or roasted, for the 

 sake of its sweet juice. 

 C. rotundus Linn, nut grass. 



Cosmopolitan. The tubers are eaten by the North American Indians." 



' Wight, R. llluslr. Ind. Bot. 1:196. 1840. 



' Drury, H. Usejid Pis. Ind. 173. 1873. 



' Royle, J. F. lUustr. Bot. Himal. 1:414. 1839. 



* Pursh, F. Fl. Amer. Septent. 1:52. 1814. 

 ' Heuze P/i. .4/m. 2:551. 1873. 



Loudon, J. C. Enc. Agr. 98. 1866. 

 ' Bryant Fl. Diet. 29. 1783. 



Wakh, R. Trans. Hort. So:. Lond. 6:50. 1826. 



Gerarde, J. Herb. 2,2. 1633. 

 ^"Gard. Chron. 17: 838. 1882. 

 " Schweinfurth in Nature 314. 1883. 

 " Drury, H. Usefid Pis. Ind. 173. 1873. 

 " Havard, V. Torr. Bot. Club Bui. 22:115. 1 895. 



