STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 46 1 



P. incisa Thunb. 



Japan. The fruits are eaten.* 



P. insititia Linn, bullace. damson. 



Europe, Asia Minor and Himalayas. This plum is found wild in the Caucasus and 

 throughout Eiorope. The fnut is globular, black or white, of an acid taste but not 

 impleasant, especially when mellowed by frost; it makes a good conserve.'' A f-ariety 

 with yellow -^ruit is sold in the London markets under the name of the White Damson, 

 according to Thompson.' From this species has come the cultivated damson plums. 

 The damson pltmi, says Targioni-Tozzetti,^ was introduced from the East since the day 

 of Cato, who was bom 232 B. C. The damson pltmi was brought into Europe, according 

 to Michaud,* by the Duke of Anjou, in the fifth crusade, 1 198-1204, from a visit to 

 Jerusalem. 



P. japonica Thunb. Japanese plum. 



Japan and China. This plum is much grown in Japan for ornament and for fruit. 

 The plum has a sweet and agreeable flavor.* 



P. jenkinsii Hook. f. 



Assam. This Primus thrives and bears fruit at Gowhatty, India. The fruit is only 

 eatable in tarts or preserved in brandy.' 



P. laurocerasus Linn. Rosaceae. cherry laurel. 



Orient. The cherry laurel is mentioned by Gerarde in 1597 as a choice garden shrub 

 in England. The water distilled from the leaves has been used extensively for flavoring 

 puddings and creams.* Sweetmeats and custards flavored with leaves of this plant have 

 occasionally proved fatal on account of the prussic acid, yet they seem to be sometimes 

 used.' 



P. maritima Wangenh. beach plum. 



Eastern North America. The beach plirni forms a low bush or small tree on the sea- 

 coast extending from Maine to the Gulf; '" it seldom ripens its fruit in the interior." This 

 is probably one of the plums mentioned by Edward Winslow,'^ 1621, and by Rev. Francis 

 Higginson," 1629. The fruit is from a half-inch to an inch in diameter, varies from crim- 

 son to purple and is agreeable to eat. It is preserved in considerable quantities in 



^ Card. Chron. 25:458. 1886. New series. 

 'Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:498. 1832. 

 ' Thompson, R. Treas. Bot. 2:931. 1870. 



* Targioni-Tozzetti Journ. Hort. Soc. Land. 9: 162. 1855. 

 ' Michaud Hist. Crusades 3:329. 1853. 



Georgeson ^mer. Gafd. 12:76. 1891. 



' Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 244. 1874. {Cerasus jenkinsii) 



' Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 254. 1879. 



' Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 1:251. 1870. {Cerasus laurocerasus) 

 ' Burbidge, F. W. Cult. Pis. 477. 1877. 

 " Downing, A. J. Fr. Fr. Trees Amer. 350. 1857. 

 " Young, A. Chron. Pilgr. 234. 1841. 

 " Higginson, Rev. Francis New Eng. Plant. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. ist Ser. 1:118. 1792. 



