414 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



Perilla arguta Benth. Labiatae. 



China and Japan. An infusion of this plant is used, says Mueller,' to impart to 

 table vegetables and other substances a deep red color. The plant is an inmate of French 

 flower gardens.* 



Periploca aphylla Decne. Asclepiadeae. 



Northwest India, Afghanistan, south Persia, Arabia and Egypt. The flower-buds, 

 says Brandis,' are sweet and are eaten, raw or cooked, as a vegetable. 



Persea gratissima Gaertn. f. Laurineae. abacate. ahuacate. alligator pear. 



AVOCADO. AVOCATE. VEGETABLE MARROW. 



A tree of tropical America. The avocado has been naturalized on the islands of 

 Bourbon and Mauritius since 1758. In Brazil, it is one of the most highly-prized fruits. 

 The fruit is like a large pear, with a green, leathery rind and a tender, juicy flesh which 

 incloses a hard nut. The flesh, made into a sauce with citron juice and sugar, has a 

 delightful taste. In itself, the flesh is insipid but tender and soft, tasting like artichokes. 

 Moritz Wagner says it may be called vegetable butter as it melts upon the tongue* 

 Amida ' says the fruit is very pleasant and that there are in Brazil two varieties, one of 

 which is called cayenne. Morelet ^ says the variety in Central America called avocate 

 is a ptdpy fruit with a thin, smooth, leathery skin of a green color, spotted with red, 

 resembling much a large pear. It contains a large, oval stone, which, when the fruit 

 ripens and is ready to eat, becomes loose and rattles in its center. The pulp is of a delicate 

 coffee color, unctuous, without odor, resembles fresh butter and is eaten with a spoon. 

 This fruit is rarely palatable at first to the stranger, but it finally recommends itself by 

 its wonderfully delicate, agreeable and peculiar flavor. The second variety is called by 

 the Indians omtchon. It differs from the first by the contraction of the part nearest the 

 stem, by its sharp, conic base, by its thick, wrinkled, light green skin and by the tenacity 

 with which the skin adheres to the pulp. A third kind is also known, called anison. It is 

 not as highly esteemed as the others and has a very strong, peculiar odor. In Jamaica, 

 says Long,' there are two species, the green and the red, the latter preferred, but the quality 

 of the fruit varies; that produced in a wild state is small and often bitter. The pulp is in 

 imiversal esteem and is called by some vegetable marrow and is generally eaten with sugar 

 and lime juice or pepper and salt. It has a delicate, rich flavor. Lunan * says few people 

 relish the fruit at first but it soon becomes agreeable. In an immature state, the fruit 

 is very dangerous. It is cultivated to a limited extent in south Florida. 



Mueller, F. Sd. Ph. 330. 1891. 



Vilmorin Fl. PL Ter. 839. 1870. 3rd Ed. 



Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 330. 1876. 



* Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 348. 1859. 



' Koster, H. Trav. Braz. 2:36^. 1817. {Laurus persea) 



' Morelet Trav. Cent. Amer. 264, 265. 1871. 



' Long if ti/. /am. 3:808. 1774. 



'Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 1:37. 1814. 



