sturtevant's notes on edible plants 337 



and are very good eating. Miss Bird ' also speaks of its cultivation as a vegetable in 

 northern Japan. 



Limacia scandens Lour. Menispermaceae. 



Forests of Cochin China. The drupes are small, smooth, add and esculent.* 



Limnanthemum crenatum F. Muell. Gentianeae. 



Australia. The small, round tubers are roasted for food.* 



L. nymphoides Hoffmgg. & Link. 



Europe and northern Asia. This water plant, with its yellow flowers and roiind 

 leaves, was formerly eaten in China in spite of its bitterness.* 



Linaria cymbalaria Mill. Scrophularineae. kenilworth ivy. pennywort. 



Europe. This plant is eaten in southern Europe, says Johnson,' as a salad and is 

 a good antiscorbutic. Its taste is not unlike that of cress. 



Lindera benzoin Meissn. Laurineae. benjamin bush, spice bush. 



North America. Barton ' says the berries partake of the same spicy flavor as the bark 

 and that, dviring the War of the Revolution, the people of the United States used them 

 dried and powdered as a substitute for allspice. Porcher ' says the leaves were much 

 used by the Confederate soldiers for making a pleasant, aromatic tea. L. S. Mote ' says 

 the yovmg twigs and leaves were often used by the early pioneers of Ohio as a substitute 

 for tea and spice. 



Linum usitatissimum Linn. Lineae. flax. 



Etu^ope and the Orient. Flax has been in cultivation since the earliest times. It 

 was known to the early Egyptians, as it is mentioned frequently in the Bible as a material 

 for weaving cloth. The cloth used in wrapping mummies has been proved to be made 

 of the fibers of this plant. Flax was also cultivated by the early Romans. Among the 

 Greeks, Alcman, in the seventh century before Christ, the historian Thucydides, and 

 among the Romans, Pliny, mention the seed as employed for human food, and the roasted 

 seed is still eaten by the Abyssinians.' In the environs of Bombay, the unripe capsules 

 are lased as a food by the natives. In Russia, Belgiimi, Holland, Prussia and the north 

 of Ireland, flax is extensively grown for its fiber which constitutes the linen of commerce. 

 The seeds, known as linseed, are largely used for expressing an oil, and the press-residue 

 is used for feeding cattle. This plant is largely grown for seed in the United States. We 



'Bird Unheal. Tracks Jap. 1:175. 1881. 



Loureiro Fl. Cochin. 621. 1790. 



Palmer, E. Journ. Roy. Soc. New So. Wales 17:100. 

 *Smith, F. P. Contrib. Mat. Med. China 135. 1871. 

 'Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Ct. Brit. 197. 1862. 



Barton, W. P. C. Med. Bot. 2:95. 1818. 



' Porcher, F. P. Res. So. Fields, Forest 393. 1869. 



Case Bot. Index 83. 1880. 



' Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 97. 1879. 



