4o6 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



millet was brought the party as provisions, and Johann Schultberger/ 1396-1427, speaks 

 of millet as the only grain crop of Siberia and at Zepun on the Black Sea. In France, 

 this millet is cultivated at the present time almost exclusively for forage; in Germany 

 for the grain and also for fodder; in England it is unknown as an agricultural crop. It is 

 cultivated largely in southern and western Asia, in northeastern Africa and to some extent 

 in Italy and in Spain. It appears to be but little known as an agricultiu^l crop in America. 

 Jared Elliot,' 1747, speaks of seed being sent him under the name of East India wheat, 

 but he says it was a millet, with small grain, the bigness of a turnip or cabbage seed and 

 of a yellowish color. In 1822 and 1823, there are records of large crops of seed and hay 

 grown in this country imder the name of millet, but these may have been of other species 

 than this. There are many varieties grown. Some 30 kinds are given for Ceylon. At 

 the Madras exhibition of 1857, seven kinds were shown. 



P. pilosum Sw. 



South America. This grain is cultivated in India as a bread com, under the name 

 bhadlee.^ 



P. sanguinale Linn, crab grass, finger grass. 



Cosmopolitan. This grain grows in abundance in Poland where it is sometimes 

 cultivated for its seed and is in cultivation in waste ground in America, naturalized from 

 Europe. In Europe, the small-hulled fruit fiuiiishes a wholesome and palatable nourish- 

 ment called manna grit.'' This is the common crab grass, or finger grass, of America. 



Papaver nudicaule Linn. Papaveraceae. arctic poppy. 



This poppy was found by Kane ' at all the stations on his two voyages to the Arctic 

 seas and it extends probably, he says, to the fvirthest limit of vegetation. The leaves, 

 and especially the seeds, which are very oleaginous, are a great resort in scorbutic affections 

 and very agreeable to the taste. Pursh ' gives its habitat as Labrador. 



P. orientale Linn, oriental poppy. 



Asia Minor and Persia. This species was observed in the fields about Erzerum, 

 Armenia. This is a very fine species of poppy which the Turks and Armenians call aphion 

 as they do the common opium. They do not extract the opium from this kind but eat 

 the heads as a delicacy when they are green, though very acrid and of a hot taste. ^ 



P. rhoeas Linn, corn poppy, field poppy. 



Europe, the Orient and north Africa. On the continent of Europe, this poppy is 

 cultivated as an oil plant, the oil being esteemed next to that of the olive. The plant 

 is in French flower gardens.* 



' Schiltberger, J. Trav. 1397-1427. Hakl. Soc. Ed. 41. 1879. 



Elliot, Jared. Essays Husb. 51. 1 8 1 1 . 



' Treas. Bot. 2:841. 1870. 



* linger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpl. 306. 1859. {Digitaria sanguinale) 



Kane, E. K. Arctic Explor. 2:449. 1856. 



Pursh, F. F! Amer. Septent. 2:366. 1814. 



'Toumefort Koy.ieran/ 2:118. 1718. 



1 Vilmorin Fl. PI. Ter. 822. 1870. 3rd Ed. (.Pavot coquelicot) 



