484 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



that its seed is separated from the grain and sold as Durham mustard seeds.' The seeds 

 are very pungent and form an excellent substitute for mustard.' 



R. sativus Linn, radish. 



China may be considered the native land of the radish where, as in the neighboring 

 country of Japan, it nms into many varieties, among them an oil plant.' The radish, 

 however, is found wild in the Mediterranean region, as in Spain, in Sardinia, more fre- 

 quently in Greece and is mentioned so frequently by ancient writers that some authors 

 think it may be a cultivated form of R. raphanistrum.* Radishes were extensively culti- 

 vated in EgjTJt in the time of the Pharaohs. So highly did the ancient Greeks esteem the 

 radish, says Mcintosh,' that, in offering their oblations to Apollo, they presented turnips 

 in lead and beets in silver, whereas radishes were presented in beaten gold. The Greeks 

 appear to have been acquainted with three varieties, and Moschian,' one of their physicians, 

 wrote a book on the radish. Tragus,' 1552, mentions radishes that weighed 40 pounds, and 

 Matthiolus,* 1544, declares having seen them weighing loo pounds each. 



This root does not appear, says Booth, ' to have reached England until 1 548. Gerarde '" 

 mentions four varieties as being grown in 1597, " eaten raw with bread " but for the most 

 part " used as a sauce with meates to procure appetite." Radishes are mentioned in 

 Mexico by P. Martyr;" as abounding in Hayti by Benzoni,'* 1 565 ; and as cultivated in 

 Massachusetts by Wm. Wood," 1629-33. I" 1806, McMahon '* mentions 10 sorts in 

 his list of American garden esculents. Thorbum '^ offers 9 varieties in his catalog of 

 1828 and 25 in 1881. At present, radishes are usually eaten raw with salt as a salad but 

 are said also to be used occasionally otherwise; the leaves may be boiled as greens or eaten 

 as a cress; the old roots may be boiled and served as asparagus; or the seed-pods may be 

 used for pickles. In China, a variety whose root is not fleshy is cultivated for the oil 

 which is procured from the seeds. In Japan, the roots are in general and imiversal use, 

 being served as a vegetable and in almost every dish. Miss Bird ^' says the daikon is the 

 abomination of Europeans. The Lew-Chew radishes often grow, says Morrow,'' between 

 two and three feet long, more than a foot in circtmiference and are boiled for food. In 



' Loudon, J. C. Enc. Agr. 934. 1866. 



Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Gt. Brit. 48. 1862. 



Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 327. 1859 



* Treas. Bot. 2:959. 1870. 



Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:6. 1855. 



Ibid. 

 ' Ibid. 

 Ibid. 



Booth, W.B. rreoi. Bo/. 2:959. 1870. 

 "Gerarde, J. i/erfr. 184, 185. 1597. 

 " Eden Hist. Trav. 1577. 



'* Benzoni Hist. New World Smyth Trans. 1857. 

 "Wood, W. NewEng.Prosp.il. 1865. 

 McMahon, B. Amer. Card. Cal. 582. 1806. 

 " Thorbum Cat. 1828. 

 "Bird Unbeat. Tracks Jap. 1:238. 1881. 

 " Perry Japan a: 16. 1852-54. 



