384 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



surrounding a rather large, shining, brown seed; after they have been gathered some time, 

 the pulp shrivels and turns black, and the fruit then bears some resemblance to a prune. 



N. longana Cambess. longan. 



East Indies, Burma and southern China, where it is much cultivated for its fruits, 

 which are sold in the Chinese markets. It is also grown in Bengal. The longan is a smaller 

 fruit than the lichi, varying from half an inch to an inch in diameter and is quite round, 

 with a nearly smooth, brittle skin of a yellowish-brown color. It contains a similar semi- 

 transparent pxdp of an agreeable, sweet or subacid flavor.' 



N. rimosum G. Don. 



Malay Archipelago. This species furnishes a fruit which is eaten.' 



Nephrodium esculentum Don. Filices. 



In Nepal, says Unger, the rootstocks of this fern are eaten by the natives.* 



Nephrolepsis cordifoiia Presl. Polypodiaceae. ladder fern. 



Mexico, Japan and New Zealand. This fern, says J. Smith, produces undergroimd 

 tubers like small potatoes, which are used for food by the natives of Nepal. 



Neptunia oleracea Lour. Leguminosae. 



Tropics. This plant is used in Cochin China in salads, its spongj^ floating steins 

 being crisp and juicy but not easily digested.^ 



Nesodaphne tarairi Hook. f. Laurineae. taraire tree. 



New Zealand. The plant bears an ovoid and deep purple fruit used by the aborigines, 

 but, as the seeds contain a poisonous principle, they require to be well boiled in order 

 to make them harmless.* 



N. tawa Hook. f. tawa. 



New Zealand. The fruit is edible but the seeds are poisonous unless well boiled 

 before eaten.* 



Nicotiana andicola H. B. & K. Solanaceae. tobacco. 



Peru. This plant grows on the back of the Andes and is similar to cultivated tobacco.' 



N. chinensis Fisch. tobacco. 



China. This species is only known in a cultivated state.* It is everywhere culti- 

 vated in Cochin China and China.' This is the species which Le Conte "" thinks probablj- 



'Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:784. 1870. 



Unger, F. U. S. Pal. Off. Rpt. 336. 1859. 



Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 329. 1859. 



* Loureiro Fl. Cochin. 654. 1790. 



' Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:786. 1870. 



Ibid. 



' Humboldt, A. rmti. 2:507. 1889. 

 De Candolle, A. Geog. Bo/. 2:850. 1855. 

 ' Ibid. 

 " LeConte, J. Amer. Journ. Pharm. Sept. 1859. 



