396 STURTEV ant's notes on edible plants 



bare lavas. The figs are very juicy, sweet, wholesome and refreshing. A variety with 

 dark red fruit is cultivated at Catania and is much esteemed.* Hogg seems to think that 

 this is the kaktus of Theophrastus, now called in Athens the Arabian fig, arabosuke,^ but 

 in this he is mistaken. 



Orchis coriophora Linn. Orchideae. bug orchis. 



Europe and adjoining Asia. In the Levant, its dried root is cooked and eaten ' and 

 is also used to furnish salep.^ 



O. longicruris Link. 



Mediterranean region. This orchid furnishes a portion of the salep of commerce.' 



O. mascula Linn, spotted orchis. 



Europe and Asia Minor. The spotted orchis yields part of the inferior English salep. 

 In the Peloponnesus, its dried root is cooked and eaten.' 



O. militaris Linn. 



North Asia and Europe. This orchid produces a starchy, mucilaginous substance 

 known as salep, obtained by macerating the pulp in water.' 



O. morio Linn, gandergoose. salep orchis. 



Europe and adjoining Asia. In the Levant, the dried root is cooked and eaten.* 

 This is one of the species which furnishes salep to commerce.' 



O. p3rramidalis Linn. 



Europe and north Africa. This is one of the species used to furnish salep to 

 commerce." 



O. ustulata Linn. 



Europe. This is one of the species which fiu-nish salep to commerce." Large quanti- 

 ties of salep are prepared in Macedonia and Greece, but the finest comes from Turkey. 

 In the Himalayas and Kashmir regions, many species of bulbous-rooted orchids yield salep, 

 which is largely used as food by the natives. 



Oreodoxa oleracea Mart. Palmae. cabbage palm. 



West Indies. This is the cabbage palm of tropical America. The terminal bud, 

 of a white color internally and of delicate flavor, serves as a vegetable.'^ Seemann " says 



' Hooker, W. J. Journ. Bot. 1:121. 1834. {Cactus opuntia) 



' Ibid. 



' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 502. 1879. 



* Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 654. 1879. 

 ' Ibid. 



Pickering, C. Chron. HisK Pis. ^02. 1879. 



'Smith, J. Dom. Bot. 1B3. 1871. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 502. 1879. 



Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 654. 1879. 

 ' Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



" Masters, M. T. Treat. Bot. 1:88. 1870. {Areca oleracea) 



" Seemann, B. Pop. Hist. Palms 278. 1856. 



