sturtevant's notes on edible plants 469 



fringe running along the length of its four corners. The pod is cooked whole and, says 

 Firminger,* is a vegetable of little value. Wight ^ calls it a passable vegetable. In the 

 Mauritius, the plant is called pais canes and is cultivated for the seeds.^ In Burma and 

 the Philippines, the pods are eaten. Pickering ^ says it is a native of equatorial Africa 

 and says " the kidney beans of the finest quality," observed by Cada Mosto ^ in Senegal 

 in 1455, belong here. 



Psoralea .calif omica S. Wats. Leguminosae. 



California. The tuberous roots are eaten by the Piutes.' 



P. canescens Michx. 



Southern states of North America. This plant has esculent roots.' 



P. castorea S. Wats. 



Colorado to California. The roots afford food to the Piute Indians.* 



P. esculenta Pursh. bread root. Indian turnip, pomme blanche, prairie potato. 

 Upper Missouri and Rocky Moimtain region.' This root is a special luxury to the 

 Indians of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Sioux use it very extensively.'" It is eaten 

 roasted while fresh or carefully dried and stored for winter use." The stringy, dry and 

 tough roots are eaten by the Cree Indians of the northwest, either raw or roasted.'^ 



P. glandulosa Linn, jesuit tea. 



Chile. The roots are dried and smoked. The plant has been introduced into 

 the Mauritius" where the leaves are used as a tea substitute. In Chile, it is called 

 culen.^* 



P. h3rpogaea Nutt. 



North America. The tubers are edible.'' 



P. subacaulis Torr. & Gray. 



Tennessee. The plant has edible roots." 



' Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 150. 1874. 

 ' Wight, R. Illustr. Ind. Bot. i : 192. 1840. 

 Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Ph. 823. 1879. 

 * Ibid. 

 ' Ibid. 



Havard, V. Torr. Bot. Club Bui. 22:108. 1895. 

 ' Ibid. 

 Ibid. 



Smith, A. Treoj. BoZ. 2:935. 1870. 

 '" Fremont Explor. Exped. 107. 1845. 

 " Pursh, F. Fl. Amer. Septent. 2:475. 1814. 

 " Hooker, W. J. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1:137. 1840. {P . hrachiata) 

 " Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:935. 1870. 

 " Card. Chron. 242. Aug. 19, 1882. New series. 

 " Havard, V. Torr. Bot. Club Bui. 22 : 108. 1895. 

 ' Ibid. 



