STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 455 



Indians of Peru and guava by the Spaniards, of which he says: " It consists of a pod about 

 a quarta long, more or less, and two fingers in width. On opening it one finds some white 

 stuff exactly like cotton. It is so like, that Spaniards, who did not know the fruit, have 

 been known to scold the Indians who gave it to them to eat, thinking they were offering 

 cotton by way of joke. They are very sweet and after being exposed to the sun, will 

 keep very long. Within the white pulp there is a black pip, like a bean, which is not good 

 to eat." Don ' says the pulp contained in the pods is very sweet and is eaten in Brazil. 

 Pickering^ says it is called pacai in Peru, and that its pods are sold in the markets of 

 Lima. 



P. juliflora DC. algaroba. honey mesquite. mesquite. screw bean. 



Tropical America. Cieza de Leon ' says the pods of this algaroba are " somewhat 

 long and narrow and not so thick as the pods of beans. In some parts they make bread 

 of these algarobas." Markham * says the tree is called guaranga. Don * says the natives 

 of the coast of Peru and Chile eat the pulp contained in the pods. The abimdant fruit 

 is eaten by the Indians and often by the whites.' E. L. Greene says the mesquite-meal, 

 which the Indians and Mexicans manufactiu-e by drying and grinding these pods and 

 their contents, is perhaps the most nutritious breadstuff in use among any people. The 

 pods, from seven to nine inches long, of a buff color, are chewed by both Indians and 

 whites as they journey, as a preventive of thirst. The pods in their fresh state are pre- 

 pared and eaten by the Indians and are among the luxuries of the Apaches, Pimas, Mari- 

 copas, Tumas and other tribes of New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and southern California. 

 A gum exudes from the tree which closely resembles gvun arabic' 



P. pubescens Benth. screw bean or screw-pod mesquite. tornilla. 



Texas, Mexico and California. The pods are pounded into meal and are used as food 

 by the Indians.* Whipple ' says it forms a favorite article of food with the Indians of 

 the Gila and Colorado rivers. Greene'" says it has the same nutritious properties as 

 P. juliflora. 



P. spicigera Linn. 



Persia and East Indies. The mealy, sweetish substance which surrounds the seeds 

 is an article of food in the Pvmjab, Gujarat and the Deccan. The pods are collected 

 before they are quite ripe, and the mealy pulp is eaten raw, or boiled with vegetables, salt 

 and butter." 



' Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:^00. 1832. 

 ' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 663. 1879. 



Markham, C. R. Trav. Cieza de Leon. 1532-50. Hakl. Soc. Ed. 235. 1864. 

 Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 668. 1879. (P. horrida) 



'Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:400. 1832. 



Brewer and Watson Bot. Col. i : 163. 1 880. 

 *U. S. D.A. Rpt. 410. 1870. 



' Brewer and Watson Bot. Cal. 1:163. 1880. 



Whipple Pacific R. R. Rpt. 3:115. 1856. 

 "Greene, E.L. Amer. Nat. 30. 1881. 

 "Brandis/'orw//^/. 171. 1874. 



