394 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



Omphalea diandra Linn. Euphorbiaceae. cobnut. 



West Indies. This tree is cultivated in Santo Domingo and Jamaica under the name 

 of noisettier, or cobnut, from the resemblance of the flavor of the seeds to that of the Euro- 

 pean nuts. The embryo is deleterious and requires to be extracted.' 



O. triandra Linn, cobnut. 



Tropical America. The seeds are edible after the deleterious embryo is extracted.* 

 The tree is called cobnut in Jamaica. The kernels of the nuts in the raw state are deli- 

 cately sweet and wholesome. When roasted they are equal, if not superior, to any chest- 

 nut. By compression, they yield a sweet and fine-flavored oil.' 



Oncoba spinosa Forsk. Bixineae. 



Tropical Africa and Arabia. This is a large tree called in Yemen onkoh. The fruit 

 is eaten by boys.^ ^ 



Oncocarpus vitiensis A. Gray. Anacardiaceae. 



Fiji Islands. The fleshy disk of the fruit, which is of a beautiful red when ripe, is 

 much esteemed by the Fijians, who use it extensively bruised in water and fermented 

 into a liquor resembling cider. The kernel, when boiled, is edible.* 



Oncosperma filamentosum Blume. Palmae. nibung palm. 



Malay. This is the nibung of the Malays. The heart, or cabbage, is delicately white 

 with a very sweet, nutty flavor.' Adams ' says the cabbage is certainly a most delicious 

 vegetable and, when boiled, resembles asparagus or kale; in its raw state, it fiunishes 

 fictitious cucumbers and an excellent salad. 



Oncus esculentus Lotir. Dioscoraceae. 



India. Royle * says this plant has large, farinaceous and edible tubers. 



Onobrychis crista-galli Lam. Leguminosae. hedgehog. 



Mediterranean region. This singxilar plant is grown in vegetable gardens as a curiosity 

 on account of the peculiar shape of the seed-pods. It has no utility. Its seed appears 

 in some of our seedsmen's lists. 



Ononis arvensis Linn. Leguminosae. rest-harrow. 



Europe. Rest-harrow, according to Gerarde,' furnishes a food. " The tender sprigs 

 or crops of this shrub before the thomes come forth, are preserved in pickle, and be very 

 pleasant sauce to be eaten with meat as sallad, as Dioscorides teacheth." 



' Treas. Bot. 2:812. 1870. 



' Ibid. 



' Lunan, J. Hori. Jam. 1:201. 1814. 



* Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 390. 1879. 



Seemann, B. Fl. Viti. 51. 1865-73. 



Seemann, B. Pop. Hist. Palms 275. 1856. 



' Adams, A. Voy. Samorang 2:426. 1848. 



Royle, J. F. Illustr. Bot. Himal. 1:379. 1839. 



'Gerarde, J. Herb. 1^2^. 1633. 



