408 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE .PLANTS 



P. montanum Aubl. 



French Guiana. The drupe is large, ovate, smooth and fibrous, has a thick, acrid 

 rind, and the nut, or kernel, is sweet and edible.* 



P. nonda F. Muell. nonda. 



Northeast Australia. This species bears edible, mealy, plum-like fruit.* 



Paris polyphylla Sm. Liliaceae. 



Himalayan region and China. The seeds are eaten by the Lepchas of the Himalayas. 

 They are sweet but mawkish.' 



Parkia africana R. Br. Leguminosae. African locust. 



Tropical western Africa, The natives of Sudan, who call the tree dours, roast the 

 seeds and then bruise and allow them to ferment in water until they become putrid, when 

 they are carefully washed, pounded into powder and made into cakes, which are excellent 

 sauce for all kinds of food but have an unpleasant smell. An agreeable beverage is pre- 

 pared from the sweet, farinaceous pulp surrounding the seeds. Sweetmeats are also made 

 of it.^ The pods contain a yellow, farinaceous substance enveloping the seeds, of which 

 the negroes of Sierra Leone are fond, its flavor being similar to that of the monkey-bread. 

 This is the fruit mentioned by Park as a mimosa called by the negroes nitta, which furnishes 

 a nutritiA^ and agreeable food from its seed-pods. 



P. biglandulosa Wight & Arn. 



Malay. The seeds are eaten by the Malays, who relish them as well as the mealy 

 matter which surrounds them. The former taste like garlic.^ 



Parmentiera edulis DC. Bignoniaceae. 



Mexico. The fruit resembles a cucumber in shape, with a rough siirface and is eaten. 

 The tree is middle-sized.* 



Paropsia edulis Thou. Passifloreae. 



Madagascar. The aril of the seeds is edible.' 



Paspaliun ciliatum H. B. & K. Gramineae. 



Brazil. This is a perennial and a lauded cereal grass of tropical South America.' 

 P. exile Kippist 



Tropical Africa. This is a food grass called Jundunjii in west Africa.' 



> Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Ph. 2:478. 1832. 



Mueller, F. Sel. Pis. t,2^. 1891. 



Hooker, J. D. Illustr. Himal. Pis. PI. 24. 1855. 



* Smith, A. Treas. 801.2:847. 1870. 



' Royle, J. F. Illustr. Bot. Himal. 1:183. 1839. 



Seemann, B. Treas. Bot. 2:848. 1870. 



' Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 3:46. 1834. 



Mueller, F. Set. Pis. 224. 1891. 



Henfrey, A. Bo/. 399. 1870. 



