434 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



Phyteuma spicatum Linn. Campanulaceae. spiked rampion. 



Europe. The roots, which are thick and fleshy, were formerly eaten, either boiled 

 or in salad, but the plant is no longer used in England, though still in favor in some parts 

 of continental Europe.' 



PhjTtocrene gigantea Wall. Olacineae. fountain tree. 



Burma. A watery and drinkable sap flows from sections of the porous stem.* 

 P. pahnata Wall. 



Malays. A watery and drinkable sap flows from sections of the porous stem.' 



Ph3rtoIacca acinosa Roxb. Phytolaccaceae. Indian poke. 



Himalayas and China. This plant is cultivated in Jaunsar and Kamaon, India, 

 where its leaves are eaten boiled as a vegetable.^"' In 1852, it was cultivated in Germany 

 as a spinach.' This species has been recommended in France as a culinary vegetable 

 but it does not appear to have met with much success. Its leaves cooked as spinach and 

 its young shoots as asparagus were both said to possess an excellent flavor.^ 



P. decandra Linn, garget, pocan. scoke. Virginian poke. 



Originally from North America, this species has been distributed throughout Mexico 

 Brazil, the Sandwich Islands and the region of the Mediterranean, even to Switzerland. 

 It is occasionally used as a vegetable, and Barton * says the yoimg shoots are brought 

 in great abundance to the Philadelphia market as a table vegetable. In Louisiana, says 

 Rafinesque,' it is called chou-gras and the leaves are eaten boiled in soup. 



P. octandra Linn, calalu. 



Guiana and Jamaica. From this species comes a palatable, wholesome green. It is 

 cultivated in most kitchen gardens in Jamaica.'" In Mexico, it is called verbachina. In 

 China, it is an edible plant." 



Picea excelsa Link. Conijerae. Norway spruce. 



Norway, Russia and the mountainous parts of Europe. The spray is used in making 

 beer. '2 



P. nigra Link, black spruce, double spruce. 



North America. Great quantities of spruce beer are made from the new shoots." 



1 Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Gt. Brit. 162. 1862. 



'Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. s-.^ot. 1878. 



Ibid. 



<Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 371. 1874. 



Royle, J. F. lUustr. Bot. Himal. 1:326. 1839. 



Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 358. 1859. (P. esculenla) 



'Smith, A. Treoi. Bo/. 2:895. 1870. {Pircunia esculenta) 



" Barton, W. P. C. Med. Bot. 2:217. 1817-18. 



RafinesQue, C. S. Fl. La. 31. 1817. 

 " Titford, W. J. Hort. Bot. Amer. 67. 1812. 

 u Smith, F. P. Con'rib. Mat. Med. China 171. 1871. 

 " Masters, M. T. Treas. Bet. 1:2. 1870. (Abies excelsa) 

 "Emerson, G. B. Trees, Shrubs of Mass. 1:99. 1875. (Abies nigra) 



