322 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



L. scariola Linn, lettvce. prickly lettuce. 



Europe and the Orient. Lettuce, the best of all salad plants, as a cultivated plant 

 has great antiquity. It is evident, by an ancedote related by Herodotus, that lettuce 

 appeared at the royal tables of the Persian kings about 550 B. C Its medicinal properties 

 as a food-plant were noted by Hippocrates,^ 430 B. C; it was praised by Aristotle,' 356 

 B. C; the species was described by Theophrastus,* 322 B. C, and Dioscorides,' 60 A. D.; 

 and was mentioned by Galen,* 164 A. D., who gives the idea of very general use. Among 

 the Romans, lettuce was very popular. Columella,' A. D. 42, describes the Caecilian, 

 Cappadocian, Cyprian and Tartesan. Pliny,' A. D. 79, enumerates the Alba, Caecilian, 

 Cappadocian, Crispa, Graeca, Laconicon, Nigra, Purpurea and Rubens. Palladius," 

 210 A. D., implies varieties and mentions the process of blanching. Martial,'" A. D. loi, 

 gives to the lettuces of Cappadocia the term vtles, or cheap, impljdng abundance. In 

 China, its presence can be identified in the fifth century." In England, Chaucer, 

 about 1340, uses the word in his prologue, " well loved he garlic, onions and lettuce," 

 and lettuce is likewise mentioned by Turner,'^ 1538, who spells the word lettuse. It is 

 mentioned by Peter Martyr, 1494. as cultivated on Isabela Island. In 1565, Benzoni " 

 speaks of lettuce as abounding irL.Hayti. In 1647, Nieuhoff '* saw it cultivated in Brazil. 

 In 1806, McMahon " enumerates for American gardens 16 sorts. In 1828, Thorburn's " 

 seed catalog offered 13 kinds, and in 1881, 23 kinds. 



In the report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for 1885, 87 varieties 

 are described with 585 names of synonyms.'' Vilmorin '* describes, 1883, one hundred 

 and thirteen kinds as distinct. The numbers of varieties named by various writers at 

 various times are as follows: For France, in 1612, six; in 1690, twenty-one; in 1828, forty; 

 in 1883, one hundred and thirteen. For Holland, in 1720, forty-seven. For England, 

 in 1597, six; in 1629, nine; in 1726, nine; in 1763, fifteen; in 1765, eighteen; in 1807, fourteen. 

 For America, in 1806, sixteen; in 1885, eighty-seven. 



The cabbage and cos lettuces are the sorts now principally grown but various other 



'Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:5. 1855. 



'Hippocrates Opera Comarius Ed. 113. 1546. 



' Scaliger Aristotle 63. 1566. 



* Theophratus Hist. PI. Bodaeus Ed. 761. 1644. 



' Dioscorides Vergelius Ed. 220. 1532. Ruellius Ed. 130. 1529. 



'Galen Aliment, lib. 2. Gregorius Ed. 143. 1547. 



'Columella lib. 10, c. 181-193, 369. 



' Pliny lib. 19, c. 38. 



' Palladius lib. 2, c. 14; lib. 3, c. 24; lib. 4, c. 9, etc. 

 " Martial lib. 5, 79. 



" Bretschneider, E. Bot. Sin. 78. 1882. 

 " Turner Libellus 1538. 



" Benzoni Hist. New World. Smythe Ed. 1857. 

 " Churchill Coll. Voy. 



" McMahon, B. Amer. Card. Cal. 581. 1806. 

 ' Thorbum Cat. 1828. 



" N. Y. Agr. Expt Sta. (Geneva) Rpt. 1885. 

 " Vilmorin Les Pis. Potag. 285. 1883. 



