STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 303 



India, the capsule, familiarly known as the bendi-kai, is much esteemed for imparting 

 a mucilaginous thickening to soups, and the young pods are often gathered green and 

 pickled like capers; but Firminger ' states that, though of an agreeable flavor, the pods, 

 on accoimt of their slimy nature, are not generally in favor with Europeans. Its seeds 

 form one of the best coffee substitutes known.^ In the south of France, okra is cultivated 

 for its pods. It was carried from Africa to Brazil before 1658,' reached Surinam before 

 1686 ^ and is mentioned by Hughes ^ for Barbados in 1750. 



In the. southern United States, okra has long been a favorite vegetable, the green 

 f)ods being used when quite young, sliced in soups and similar dishes, to which they impart 

 a thick, viscous or gummy consistency. The ripe seeds, washed and ground, are also 

 said to furnish a palatable substitute for coffee. Okra is mentioned by Kalm,^ 1748, as 

 growing in gardens in Philadelphia; is mentioned by Jefferson as cultivated in Virginia 

 before 1781 ; and is included among garden vegetables by McMahon,' 1806, and all succeed- 

 ing writers on American gardening. The green seed pods are used in soups, or stewed 

 and served like asparagus, or when cold made into a salad. The green pods may be pre- 

 served for winter use by cutting them in halves, stringing and drying them. The young 

 leaves and pods are also occasionally dried, pulverized and stored in bottles for future use. 

 The stalks of the plant are used for the manufacture of paper. This plant offers a highly 

 esteemed vegetable in southern States and is quite frequently, but neither generally nor 

 extensively, cultivated in northern gardens for use of the pods in soups and stews. 



The Spanish Moors appear to have been well acquainted with this plant, which was 

 known to them by the name of bantiyah. Abul-Abbas el-Nebati, a native of Seville, learned 

 in plants, who visited Egypt in 12 16, describes in unmistakable terms the form of the plant, 

 its seeds and fruit, which last, he remarks, is eaten when young and tender with meal 

 by the Egyptians.' The references to this plant in the early botanies are not numerous 

 and the synonymies offered are often incorrect. The following, however, are justified: 



Trionum tkeophrasti. Rauwolf, in Ap. to Dalechamp, 31. 1857. Cum ic. 



Alcea aegyptia Clusius Hist. 2:27, 1601. Cum ic. 



Honorius bellus. In Clus., 1. c. 2:311. 



Bamia alessandrina. Dur. C. Ap. 161 7. Cum ic. 



Quingombo. Marcg. Bras., 31, 1648, cum ic; Piso. Bras. 211, 1658. Cum ic. 



Malva rosea sive hortensis. Bauh. J. 2:951. 165 1. 



Ketmia americana annua flore albo, fructu non sulcata longissimo. Commelyn, Hort. 

 Med. 150. 1 70 1. Cum ic. 



Of these, the last only, that of Commelyn, represents the type of pod of the varieties 

 usually to be foimd in our gardens, but plants are occasionally to be foimd bearing pods 



' Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 141. 1874. 

 *Bon Jard. 501. 1882. 



Piso De Ind. 211. 1658. Marcgravius Hist. Rerum Nat. Bras. 31. 1648. (Piso) 



Commelin //or/. 1:37. 1697. 

 'Hughes, G. Nat. Hist. Barb. 210. 1750. 

 ' Kalm, P. Trav. No. Amer. i:$H. 1772. 

 ' McMahon Amer. Gard. Cat. 318. 1806. 



Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 94. 1879. 



