sturtevant's notes on edible plants 249 



E. horizonthalonius Lem. 



Mexico. This species furnishes fruits which are sliced, candied and sold as 

 confections.' 



E. longihamatus Gal. 



Mexico. Fruit red, edible and of good quality.^ 



E. viridescens Nutt. 



CalifoKiia. The fruit is of the shape and taste of a gooseberry.' 



E. wislizeni Engelm. 



Western North America. This cactus is called by the Mexicans visnada, or biznacha. 

 The seeds are small and black and when parched and pulverized, make good gruel and 

 even bread. The pulp of the fruit is rather sour and is not much eaten. Travellers, in 

 passing through the cactus wastes, often resort to this plant to quench their thirst, its 

 interior containing a soft, white, watery substance of sUghtly acid taste, which is rather 

 pleasant when chewed. Pieces of this, soaked in a sirup or sugar and dried, are as good 

 as candied citron, which they resemble in taste and substance. This plant, in some of 

 its preparations, furnishes a favorite food to the Yabapais and Apache Indians of Arizona.^ 



Echinophora spinosa Linn. Umbelliferae. prickly samphire, sea parsnip. 



Europe. The roots of prickly samphire are eatable, with the flavor of parsnips, and 

 the young leaves make excellent pickles. 



Eclipta erecta Lihn. Compositae. 



Cosmopolitan tropics. About Bombay, this plant, a common weed, is sometimes 

 eaten by the natives as a potherb.* 



Ehretia acuminata R. Br. Boragineae. 



Asia and Australian tropics. The drupe is red-orange, or nearly black when ripe, 

 as large as a small pea. The unripe fruit is pickled in India. When ripe it is insipidly 

 sweet and is eaten.* 



E. eUiptica DC. 



Texas and Mexico. This plant is a small tree with fruit the size of a large pea, yellow, 

 with a thin, edible pulp.' 



E. laevis Roxb. 



Asia and Australian tropics. The inner bark, in times of famine, is mixed with flour 

 and eaten. The fruit is tasteless but is eaten.' 



' Havard, V. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3:360. 1896. 



Havard, V. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 520. 1885. 



'Engelmann Bo/. WorA^ 191. 1887. 



*U. S. D. A. Rpt. 417. 1870. Fig. 



' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 700. 1879. (E. prostrata) 



Brandis, D. Forest PL 340. 1874. (E. serrata) 



' Torrey, J. Bot. U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. 2:136. 1859. 



Brandis, D. Forest Ft. 340. 1874. 



