sturtevant's notes on edible plants 371 



adheres to the seeds. The outer portion of the fruit is not pleasant to the taste, but the 

 seed has the flavor of filberts.' 



Mucuna capitata Sweet. Leguminosae. 



Malay Archipelago and the Himalayas. This species, according to Elliott,^ is cul- 

 tivated in native gardens in India and even among some of the Hill Tribes. 



M. cochinchinensis Lour. 



This sicies is cultivated in Cochin China for its legumes which are served and eaten 

 as we do string beans.' 



M. gigantea DC. cowitch. 



East Indies. The beans are eaten by the natives and are esteemed as both palatable 

 and wholesome.* 



M. monospenna DC. negro bean. 



East Indies. This is a favorite vegetable with Brahmins.' 



M. nivea DC. 



Bengal and Burma. This species is cultivated by the natives in India. Roxbtirgh 

 says that, by removing the velvety skin of the large, fleshy, tender pods, they are a most 

 excellent vegetable for the table, and the full-grown beans are scarcely inferior to the 

 large garden beans of Exirope. Drury ^ reaiBrms this opinion. 



M. pruriens DC. cowitch. cowhage. 



Tropical Africa. The cowitch, or cowhage, has, ^y% Livingstone,' a velvety covering 

 to its pods of minute prickles, which, if touched, enter the pores of the skin and cause a 

 painful tingling. The women, in times of scarcity, collect the pods, kindle a fire of grass 

 over them to destroy the prickles, then soak the beans until they begin to sprout, wash 

 them in pure water and either boil them or pound them into meal. Its name on the 

 Zambezi is kitedzi. 



M. urens Medic, horse-eye bean. 



In Jamaica, the legume is said by Plumier to have been eaten by the Caribs but 

 Lunan ' says it is poisonous. 



Muntingia calabura Linn. Tiliaceae. calabur. 



West Indies. This is the guasem of Jamaica. An infusion of the leaves is used in 

 the Caracas as a tea.'" 



' Hooker, W. J. Bot. Misc. 1:124. 1830. (Guildingia psidiodes) 

 'Elliott, W. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 7:297. 1863. 



' Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:342. 1832. (Macranthus cochinchinensis) 

 * Hooker, W. J. Bot. Misc. 2:352. 1831. 

 Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 299. 1873. 

 Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 149. 1874. 

 ' Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 299. 1873. 

 ' Livingstone, D. & C. Exped. Zambesi 503. 1866. 

 ' Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 1:383. 1814. 

 '^ Treas. Bot. 2:1301. 1876. 



