480 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



dyeing as are the unripe acorns called camata or camatina. The ripe acorns are eaten 

 raw or boiled.'' 



Q. agrifolia Nde. California field oak. 

 The acorns are eaten by the Indians.' 



Q. alba Linn, white oak. 



Northeast America. The dried acorns are macerated in water for food by the natives 

 on the Roanoke.^ Acorns were dried and boiled for food by the Narragansetts.^ Oak 

 acorns were mixed with their pottage by the Indians of Massachusetts. Baskets full of 

 parched acorns, hid in the ground, were discovered by the Pilgrims December 7, 1620.' 

 White oak acorns were boiled for " oyl " by the natives of New England.' The fruit 

 of some trees is quite pleasant to the taste, especially when roasted. 



Q. cerris Linn. Turkish oak. '' 



Europe and the Orient. The trees are visited in August by immense numbers of 

 a small, white coccus insect, from the puncture of which a saccharine fluid exudes and 

 solidifies in little grains. The wandering tribes of Kurdistan collect this saccharine secre- 

 tion by dipping the branches on which it forms into hot water and evaporating to a syrupy 

 consistence. In this state, the syrup is used for sweetening food or is mixed with flour 

 to form a sort of cake. ' 



Q. coccifera Linn, kermes oak. 



Mediterranean region. The acorns were used as food by the ancients. ' 



Q. cornea Lour. 



China. The acorns are used for food.'* Loudon " says the acorns are ground into 

 a paste in China, which, mixed with the flour of com, is made into cakes. 



Q. cuspidata Thunb. 



Japan. This species is enimierated by Thunberg '^ among the edible plants of 

 Japan. 



Q. emor3ri Torr. 



Western North America. This tree ftimishes acorns, which are used by the Indians 

 of the West as a food. 



' Mueller, F. Sel. Pis. 400. 1891. 

 ' Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpl. 314. 1859. 

 *U. S. D. A. Rpt. 409. 1870. 

 * Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 772. 1879. 



'Williams, R. Key. 1643. Narragansett Hist. Coll. 1:120. 1866. 

 Young, A. Chron. Pilgr. 154. 1841. 

 'Josselyn. J. New Eng. Rar. ^4. 1865. Grig. 1672. 

 ' Fliickiger and Hanbury Pharm. 372. 1879. 

 Hooker, W.J. Land. Journ. Bot. 1:146. 1834. 

 'Mueller, F. Sd. Pis. 403. 1891. 

 " Loudon, J. C. Enc. Agr. 158. 1866. 

 " Thunberg, C. P. Fl. Jap. 176. 1784. 



