STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 359 



acid, gelatinous substance like the yolk of an egg, mixed with very fine fibers adhering 

 tenaciously to the seed; the fleshy part is very agreeable to the taste. Titford ' calls this 

 pulp pleasant and cooling. 



Melicjrtus ramiflorus Forst. Violarieae. ma hoe. 



New Zealand. This is the mahoe of New Zealand, not the mahoe of the West Indies, 

 says A. Smith.^ The fruit of this tree is eaten by the natives. 



Melilotus officinalis Lam. Leguminosae. melilot. melist. sweet clover. 



Europe and adjoining Asia. The flowers and seeds are the chief ingredient in flavoring 

 the Gruyfere cheese of Switzerland.' 



Melissa officinalis Linn. Lahiatae. balm. 



Mediterranean region and the Orient. This aromatic perennial has long been an inmate 

 of gardens for the sake of its herbage, which finds use in seasonings and in the compounding 

 of liquors and perfiimes as well as the domestic remedy known as balm tea. The plant 

 in a green state has an agreeable odor of lemons and an austere and slightly aromatic 

 taste, and hence is employed to flavor certain dishes in the absence of lemon thyme. ^ The 

 culture was common with the ancients, as Pliny * directs it to be planted, and, as a bee- 

 plant or otherwise, it finds mention by Greek and Latin poets and prose writers.* In 

 the Ionian Islands, it is cultivated for bees. In Britain, it is said to have been intro- 

 duced in 1573. It is mentioned in France by Ruellius,' 1536; in England, by Gerarde,' 

 1597, who gives a most excellent figure; and also by Lyte,' 1586, and Ray,*" 1686. Mawe," 

 1758, says great quantities of balm are cultivated about London for supplying the markets. 

 In the United States, it is included among garden vegetables by McMahon,'^ 1806. As an 

 escape, the plant is found in England " and sparingly in the eastern United States." 

 Bertero ' found it wild on the island of Juan Fernandez. 



But one variety is known in our gardens, although the plant is described as being 

 quite variable in nature. This would indicate that cultivation had not produced great 

 changes. The only difference noted in the cultivated plant has been in regard to vigor. 



' Titford, W. J. Hort. Bot. Amer. 59. 1812. 

 'Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:732. 1870. 

 Don, G. Hisl. Dichl. Ph. 2:177. 1832. 



* Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:236. 1855. 

 ' Pliny lib. 21, c. 41. 



Theocritus, Idyll iv: 25; Dioscorides iii: 118; Varro iii: 116; Columella ix: 9; Virgil, Georgics iv; as 

 quoted by Grandsagne, Pliny 8:485. 



' Ruellius Nat. Stirp. 733. 1536. 



Gerarde, J. Herb. $58. 1397. 



Dodoens Herb. 293. 1586. Lyte Ed. 

 "Ray Hist. PI. 1:570. 



" Mawe and Abercrombie Univ. Card. Bot. 1778 

 " McMahon, B. Amer. Card. Cal. 512. 1806. 

 " De CandoUe, A. Geog. Bot. 2 : 68 1 , 72 1 . 1 855. 

 *Gray, A. 5j'op/. F/. 2: Pt. i, 361. 1886. 

 " De Candolle, A. Geog. Bot. 2:681. 721. 1855. 



