402 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



It was introduced into cultivation in England in 1827 ' and is now also cultivated in 

 France, the stalks and leaves being used.' 



O. enneaphilla Cav. scurvy grass. 



Falkland Islands. The plant is eaten.* 



O. frutescens Ruiz & Pav. 



Peru. The acid leaves are eaten in America.* 



O. plumieri Jacq. 



South America and Antilles. Its leaves are eaten. 



O. tetraphylla Cav. 



Mexico. It yields edible roots of not high quality.' 



O. tuberosa Molina, oca. 



Chile. Oca is cultivated in the Andes from Chile to Mexico for its tubers, which 

 vary from the size of peas to that of nuts and, says linger,' are of no very pleasant taste. 



O. violacea Linn. 



North America. This species is edible.'' 



Oxycoccus macrocaipus Pers. Vacciniaceae. cranberry. 



Temperate regions. The American cranberry grows in bogs from Virginia to Wis- 

 consin and extends to the Pacific coast. It is mentioned by Roger Williams ' under the 

 name sasemineash and was eaten by the Indians of New England. The fruit is boiled 

 and eaten at the present day by the Indians of the Columbia River imder the name soola- 

 bich. The fruit is an article of commerce among the tribes of the Northwest. About 

 1820, a few vines were cared for at Dennis, Massachusetts, but not imtil about 1840 can 

 the trials at cultivation be said to have commenced, and not until 1845 was the fact 

 established that the cranberry could be utilized as a marketable commodity. Cranberries 

 are now very extensively grown at Cape Cod and in New Jersey and Wisconsin. Under 

 favorable conditions, the vines are exceedingly productive. In New Jersey, in 1879, a 

 Mr. Bishop raised over 400 bushels on one acre and parts of acres have yielded at the 

 rate of 700 to 1000 bushels per acre, but such prolificacy is exceptional. There are several 

 recognized varieties. 



O. palustris Pers. cranberry, mossberry. 



Northern climates. This is the cranberry of Britain which is in occasional cultiva- 

 tion. The fruit is considered of superior flavor to the American cranberry but is smaller. 

 The latter is a plant of peat bogs in the northern United States and on uplands in the 



' Loudon, J. C. Hort. 654. i860. 

 ' Smith, J. Dom. Bot. 495. 1871. 

 ' Ross Voy. Antarct. Reg. 2:269. 1847. 

 *Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. $132. 1878. 

 ' Unger U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 311. 1859. 



Ibid. 

 ' Ibid. 



Williams, R. Key. 1643. Narragansett Hist. Coll. 1:121. 1866. 



