sturtevant's notes on edible plants 485 



Sikh, India, the radish is cultivated principally for the vegetable formed of the young 

 pods and for its oil.' In upper Egypt, a peculiar kind is cultivated, of which, says Klun- 

 zinger,^ the leaves only are eaten, and Pickering ' saj^s also that the leaves are eaten in 

 Egypt. Bayard Taylor * says the Arabs are very fond of radish-tops and eat them with 

 as much relish as donkeys. 



I. 

 Round, or Turnip, Radish. 



The Wund, or tiunip, radish has the root swollen into a spherical form, or an oval 

 tube rounding at the extremity to a filiform radicle. The root has several shades of 

 color, from white to red or purple. Its savor is usually milder than that of the other 

 sorts. This seems to be the boeotion of Theophrastus,' who described this form as the 

 least acid, of a rotund figure and with small leaves ; it is the syriacan of Columella " and 

 of Pliny.' This sort does not appear to have received extensive distribution northward 

 during the Middle Ages, as it is seldom mentioned in the earlier botanies. In 1586, Lyte * 

 says they are not very common in Brabant; but they are figured in two varieties by 

 Gerarde. Here might be put the Raphanus vulgaris of Tragus, 1552, which he describes 

 as round, small and common in Germany. Bontius,' 1658, mentions the round radish 

 in Java, and, in 1837, Bojer '"describes it as grown at the Mauritius. In 1842, Speede" 

 gives an Indian name, gol moolee, for the red and white kinds. 



Raphanus radicula. Pers. Baillon Hist. Pis. 3:222. 



Raphanus orbiculatus. Round radish. Ger. 184. 1597. 



Scarlet French Turnip. Vilm. 485. 1885. 



Small Early White Turnip. Vilm. 487. 1885. 



Radicula sativa minor. Small garden radish. Ger. 183. 1597. 



White olive-shaped. Vilm. 490. 1885. 



Olive-shaped Scarlet. Vilm. 488. 1885. 



II. 



Long Radish. 



The root of this class is long, nearly cylindrical, diminishing insensibly to a point 



at the extremity. This is now the common garden radish. It has a variety of colors 



from white to red and is noteworthy for the transparency of the flesh. This radish 



may well be the radicula of Columella,'^ and the algidense of Pliny," which he describes 



' Hooker, W. J. Journ. Bot. 2:273. 

 ' Klunzinger, C. B. Upper Egypt 139. 1877 

 ' Pickering, C. Geog. Distrib. Ans., Pis. Pt. 1:59. 1863. 

 * Taylor, B. Cent. Afr. 105. 1859. 

 ' Theophrastus lib. 7, c. 4. 

 Columella lib. 10, c. 114; lib. 11, c. 3. 

 ' Pliny lib. 19, c. 28. 

 > Dodoens Herb. 687. 1586. Lyte Ed. 

 ' Bontius De Ind. 12. 1658. 

 '"Bojer, W. Hort. Maurit. 16. 1837. 

 " Speede /nd. i?and6. Gard. 147. 1842. 

 " Columella lib. 4, c. 8; lib. 11, c. 2. 

 ' Pliny lib. 19, c. 26. 



