448 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



Newport on James River. Porcher ' says the fruit is relished by many persons. It is 

 extremely delicious to most persons but to many is an aperient. In France, it is grown 

 in the flower gardens.* 



Polyalthia cerasoides Benth. & Hook. f. Atumaceae. 



East Indies. The fruits, cherry-shaped and dark red, are eaten by the natives but 

 are astringent.' The plant has black berries, fleshy, smooth and of an acid-sweet 

 taste. ^ 



Polygala siberica Linn. Polygaleae. 



Temperate and tropical Asia. The roots and tender leaves were eaten in China in 

 the fourteenth century.' 



P. theezans Linn. 



Java and Japan. The Japanese and Javanese use the leaves as tea.' 



P. vulgaris Linn, milkwort. 



Europe and Asia Minor. This plant is said to be tised in adulterating green 

 tea.' 



Polygonatum japoniciun C. Morr. & Decne. Liliaceae. 



Japan. It is called amatokoro by the Japanese and the root is. used.* 



P. multiflorum All. Solomon's seal. 



Northern regions. The root, says Johnson,' macerated for some time in water, 

 yields a substance capable of being used as food and consisting principally of starch. The 

 young shoots form an excellent vegetable when boiled and eaten like asparagus and are 

 largely consumed in Turkey. The European form of the species, mentioned by Titford,'" 

 is well known to the negroes in Jamaica, who eat it boiled, and the Indians in North 

 America also feed upon the root. Parkman " states that the roots of Solomon's Seal were 

 used as food by starving Frenchmen. 



P. officinale All. solomon's seal. 



Eiu-ope and Siberia. The roots have been used, sa}^ Withering, * m.ade into bread 

 in times of scarcity but they require boiling or baking before use. 



' Porcher, F. P. Res. So. Fields, Forests 23. 1869. 

 2 Vilmorin /^/. //. Ter. 899. 1870. 3rd Ed. 

 'Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. i-.gS. 1831. 



' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 725. 1879. {Gautteria cerasoides) 

 ' Bretschneider, E. Bot. Sin. $1. 1882. 

 Baillon, H. Hist. Pis. s:S4. 1878. 

 ' Ibid. 



'Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 418. 1879. 



Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Gt. Brit. 270. 1862. (Convallaria midtiflora) 

 ' Titford, W. J. Hort. Bot. Amer, 56. 181 1 . 

 " Parkman, P. Pion. France 438. 1894. 

 " Johnson, C. P. UseftU Pis. Gt. Brit. 270. 1862. {Convallaria polygonatum) 



