330 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



a perfume was indicated as early as the fourteenth century and as a medicine even 

 in the twelfth century.' Its seed was in English seedsmen's lists of 1726* for garden 

 culture. 



Lecanora affinis Linn. Lichenes. crab's eye. 



This lichen is found in Armenia and Algeria, blown about and heaped up by the winds. 

 It is ground with com in times of scarcity to eke out the scanty supply. 



L. esculenta Linn, cup moss. 



This lichen was found by Ledebour in the Kirghiz Steppe and in middle Asia, fre- 

 quently on a barren soil or in clefts of rocks, whence it is often washed down after sudden 

 and violent falls of rain, so as to be collected in considerable quantity and easily gathered 

 for food. The same species was found by Paviot, who procured it in his journey to Ararat, 

 where it is eaten by the natives. In some districts of Persia, in 1828, it covered the ground 

 to a depth of five or six inches in so short a period of time that the people thought it had 

 been rained down from heaven. This lichen is supposed by some to have been the manna 

 of the children of Israel. 



Lecythis grandiflora Aubl. Myrtaceae. 

 Guiana. The seeds are palatable.' 



L. minor Jacq. 



New Granada. The fruit is two inches in diameter. The seeds are of an agreeable 

 taste.'' 



L. ollaria Linn, pot tree. 



Tropical America. The fruit is the size of a child's head and is prized for its chestnut- 

 like fruit.' 



L. zabucajo Aubl. 



Gtiiana. The nuts of this species are rather more than two inches long and one wide, 

 covered with a longitudinally-furrowed, corky shell and grow in large, hard, woody fruits. 

 shaped like urns, measuring about six inches in diameter and having close-fitting lids 

 at the top.* 



Ledum latifolitxm Jacq. Ericaceae. Labrador tea. 



Northern climates. The leaves are said to have been used as a substitute for 

 tea during the Revolutionary War.' Lindley ' says the leaves are used to render beer 

 heady. 



iPluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 476. 1879. 



' Townsend Seedsman 37. 1726. 



Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:873. 1832. 



Ibid. 



Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 315. 1859. 



Smith, A. Treas.Bot. 2:667. 1870. 



'Wood U. S. Disp. 1546. 1865. 



Lindley, J. Veg. King. 454. 1846. 



