246 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



by Roxbxirgh:' Var. albiflorum, the shevet-seem, flowers white, smallish, cultivated in 

 gardens as a pole bean; the tender pods are eaten, the seeds never; the plant has a 

 disagreeable smell: Var. rubiflorum, the jeea-seem, flowers red, cultivated and much 

 esteemed by the natives: Var. purpurascens, the goordal-seem, a large variety with large, 

 purple flowers: Var. purpureum, the ruk-to-seem, stem and large flowers purple, the pods 

 deep purple. Wight ' calls the species a very valuable pulse generally esteemed by all 

 classes of natives and very extensively cultivated in Mysore. In Jamaica, it is called the 

 bonavista-bean and is ciiltivated in most parts of the country. The bean is a wholesome, 

 palatable food and is in general use.' On the east coast of Africa, the leaves are dried 

 and made into a spinach.* 



D. sesquipedalis Linn, asparagus bean, yard-long bean. 



South America. This bean was first described by Linnaeus,^ 1763. It reached 

 England in 1781.' Linnaeus gives its habitat as America and Jacquin received it from 

 the West Indies. Martens ' considers it as a synonym of Dolichos sinensis Linn. Loureiro's' 

 description of D. sinensis certainly applies well to the asparagus bean, and Loureiro * 

 thinks the D. sesquipedalis of Linnaeus the same. He refers to Rumphius's Amboina, 

 1.9, c. 22, tab. 134, as representing his plant, and this work, published in 1750, antedates 

 the description of Linnaeus. Probably this is an East Indian plant, introduced into the 

 West Indies. 



The name, asparagus bean, comes from the use of the green pods as a vegetable, and 

 a tender, asparagus-like dish it is. The name at Naples, fagiolo e maccarone, conveys the 

 same idea. The pods grow very long, oftentimes two feet in length, hence the name, 

 yard-long bean, often used. The asparagus, or yard-long, bean is mentioned for Ameri- 

 can gardens in 1828 ' and probably was introduced earlier. It is mentioned for French 

 gardens under the name of haricot asperge in 1829.'" There are no varieties known to oui 

 seedsmen, but Vilmorin offers one, the Dolique de Cuba.^^ 



D. sphaerospermus DC. black-eyed pea. 



Jamaica. This is the black-eyed pea of the Barbados.*^ It is a native of Jamaica, 

 and the seeds are sweet and as good for food as any of the kidney beans. 



D. umbellatus Thunb. 



Japan. The seeds and pods are used in the preparation of a starch and meal." There 



' Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 149. 1874. 



Wight, R. Illustr. Ind. Bot. I .192. 1840. (Lablab vulgaris) 



' Long Hist. Jam. 3:785. 1774. 



*Speke, J. H. Journ. Disc. Source Nile 567. 1864. {LaUab vulgaris) 



' Linnaeus 5/). //. 1019. 1763. 



' Martyn Miller Card. Diet. 1807. 



' Martens Gartenbohnen 100. 1869. 



' Loureiro Ft. Cochin. 436. 1790. 



' Fessenden New Amer. Card. 36. 1828. 



" Noisette Man. Jard. 1829. 



" Thorbum Cat. 1828. 



"Don, G. Hist. tHchl. Pis. 2:s6o. 1832. 



Card. Chron. 25:458. 1886. 



