sturtevant's notes on edible plants 389 



Nuphar advena Ait. Nymphaeaceae. yellow pond lily, spatter-dock. 



North America. In New England, Josselyn ' found the roots of the water lily with 

 yellow flowers, after long boiling, eaten by the natives and tasting like sheep-liver. 

 R. Brown'' says the seeds are a staple article of diet among the Klamaths of southern 

 Oregon. Newberry ' saw many hundred bushels collected for winter use among the Indians 

 of the western coast and says the seeds taste like those of broom com and are apparently 

 very nutritious. 



N. luteum Sibth. & Sm. yellow water lily. 



Etu-ope and the adjoining portions of Asia. A refreshing drink is made from its 

 flowers by the Turks,* and its roots and leaf- stalks are eaten by the Finns and Russians.* 



N. polysepalum Engelm. 



California. This variety furnishes an important article of food, in its seeds, to the 

 Indians.' 



Nymphaea alba Linn. Nymphaeaceae. flatter-dock, white water lily. 



North temperate region. In France, the rootstocks, according to Masters,' are used 

 in the preparation of a kind of beer. 



N. ampla DC. 



North America and West Indies. The farinaceous rootstocks are eaten. 



N. gigantea Hook. Australian water lily. 



Australia. The porous seed-stalk is peeled and eaten either raw or roasted. The 

 stalks containing brown or black seed are used while those with light-colored seeds are 

 rejected. The large, rough tubers, growing in the mud with the floating leaves attached, 

 are roasted and are not unlike potatoes, being yellow and dry when cooked.* 

 N. lotus Linn. Egyptian water lily, lotus. 



Tropical Africa and eastern Asia. The rootstocks contain a sort of starch and are 

 eaten by the poorer classes in India. The small seeds, called bheta, are fried in heated sand 

 and make a light, easily digestible food. The roots are also eaten in Ceylon and the 

 seeds are chewed by children.' The tubers are much sought after by the natives as an 

 article of food or as a medicine. The capsules and seeds are either pickled or put into 

 curries or ground and mixed with flour to make cakes. 



N. steUata Willd. 



Asia and tropical Africa. This water lily is distinctly figured, says Pickering,'" in 



' Josselyn, J. New Eng. Rar. 72. 1672. 

 'Brown, R. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 9:382. 1868. 

 ' Newberry Pacific R. R. Rpt. 6:67. 1855. 



Pickering Chron. Hist. Pis. 135. 1879. 

 ' Ibid. 



Brewer and Watson 5o<. Co/. 1:17. 1880. 

 ' Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 2:797. 1870. 



Palmer, E. Journ. Roy. Soc. New So. Wales 17:101. 1884. 



Dutt, U. C. Mat. Med. Hindus 109, no. 1877. 

 " Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 277. 1879. 



