254 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



seeds as large as unshelled Jordan almonds are contained between the scales, and are sur- 

 rounded with a reddish pulp, which is good to eat.' Barrow * says it is used by the Kaffirs 

 as food. The stem, when stripped of its leaves, resembles a large pineapple. The Kaffirs 

 bury it for some months in the ground, then pound it, and extract a quantity of farinaceous 

 matter of the nature of sago. This sago is a favorite food with the natives and is not 

 unacceptable to the Dutch settlers when better food cannot be had. 



Enhalus koeoigii Rich. Hydrocharideae. sea fruit. 



Svmiatra. The fruits are called berak laut, or sea fruit. The seeds are slightly fari- 

 naceous and taste like chestnuts soaked in salt water. This fruit is roimd, hairy and 

 generally much covered with mud.' 



Enhydra paludosa DC. Compositae. 



East Indies, Malay and Australia. The leaves of this water plant are eaten by the 

 natives as a vegetable.'' It is the kingeka of Bengal. 



Entada scandens Benth. Leguminosae. sword bean. 



Tropical shores from India to the Polynesian Islands. The seeds are flat and brown 

 and are eaten cooked ^ like chestnuts in Simiatra and Java,^ and the pods furnish food 

 in the West Indies.' In Jamaica, Lunan * says the beans, after being long soaked in 

 water, are boiled and eaten by some negroes. 



E. wahlbergia Harv. 



South Africa. In central Africa, the bitter roots are eaten.' 



Enteromorpha compressa (Linn.) Grev. Algae. 

 This is one of the edible seaweeds of Japan. 



Ephedra distachya Linn. Gnetaceae. sea grape. 



China and south Russia. The fruit is eaten by the Russian peasants and by the 

 wandering hordes of Great Tartary.^* The fruit is eaten by the Chinese and is mucilaginous, 

 with a slightly acid or pungent flavor." The fruit is ovoid, succulent, sweet, pale or 

 bright red when ripe. It is eaten in some places, as on the Sutlej.** 



' Thunberg, C. P. rrof. 2:66. 1796. (Zamia caffra) 

 'Ainslie, W. il/o/. /nd. 1:363. 1826. 

 'Hooker, W. J. Lond. Journ. Bot. 7:165. 1855. 



* Dutt, U. C. Mat. Med. Hindus 185. 1877. 

 Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 168. 1874. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 775. 1879. 

 ' Ibid. 



Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 1:127. 1814. 



' Schweinfurth, G. Heart A fr. 1:268. 1874. 



' Balfour, J. H. Treas. Bot. 1:454. 1870. 



" Smith, F. P. Contrib. Mat. Med. China 93. 1871. 



"Brandis, D. F<frest Fl. 501. 1874. 



