360 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



A variegated variety is recorded by Mawe,' 1778, for the ornamental garden. This varia- 

 tion is noted by Vilmorin.^ 



Melocactus communis Link & Otto. Cacteae. melon cactus, turk's-cap cactus. 



South America and the West Indies.* According to Unger,^ this cactus bears an 

 edible fruit. 



Melocanna bambusoides Trin. Gramineae. 



East Indies. The fruit is very large, fleshy like an apple and contains a seed which 

 is said to be very pleasant eating.* 



Melodinus monogynus Roxb. Apocynaceae. 



Himalayan region, Malay and China. This plant bears a fruit, says Firminger,* 

 as large as a moderate-sized apple, which is said to be eatable and agreeable. Royle ' 

 says it yields edible fruit. A. Smith * says the firm, sweet pulp is eaten by the natives. 

 The berry is red, edible, sweet and somewhat astringent.' 



Melothria pendula Linn. Cucurhitaceae. 



North America and West Indies. The fruit, in Jamaica, is the size and shape of 

 a nutmeg, smooth, blackish when ripe, and full of small, white seeds like other cucumbers, 

 lodged within an insipid, cooling pulp. The fruit is eaten pickled when green and is good 

 when fully ripe, according to Sloane.'" 



M. scabra Naud. 



Mexico. The fruit is an inch long, resembling little watermelons. It is pickled 

 and eaten raw." 



Memecylon edule Roxb. Melastomaceae. 



Coromandel, tropical India and Burma. The juicy fruit is eaten by the natives 

 when ripe. They have much pulp of a bluish-black color and of an astringent quality. ** 

 The pulp of the fruit, though rather astringent, is eaten by the natives.'' 



Mentha canadensis Linn. Labiatae. mint. 



A plant found on the wet banks of brooks from New England to Kentucky and north- 



' Mawe and Abercrombie Univ. Card. Bot. 1778. 

 ' Vilmorin //. P/. Ter. 692. 1870. 3rd Ed. 

 '$rnith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:732,. 1870. 



* Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 333. 1859. 

 5 Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 2:1317. 1876. 



* Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Itid. 492. 1874. 

 'Royle, J. P. Illustr. Bot. Himal. 1:272. 1839. 

 ' Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:72,^. 1870. 



'Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 4:26. 1838. (Oncinus sp.) 

 ' Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 2:280. 1814. 

 " Watson Conirib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 14:414. 1887. 

 " Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:654. 1832. 

 " Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 290. 1873. 



