483 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



VI. 

 Edible-podded Radish. 



This radish has pods a foot or more in length and these find use as a vegetable. The 

 species became known to Linnaeus in 1784;' it reached England from Java about 18 16* 

 and was described by Burr ' as an American kitchen-garden plant in 1863. According to 

 Firminger,* the plant has but lately come into cultivation in India and there bears pods 

 often three feet in length. These pods make excellent pickles. It was at first called 

 in England tree radish from Java;' in India, rat-tailed radish,' the name it now holds 

 in the United States; by Burr,' 1863, Madras radish; by some, aerial radish. 



Raphia hookeri G. Mann & H. Wendl. Palmae. 



Tropical Africa. Wine or toddy is obtained in large qtmntities and of excellent 

 quality from this palm.' 



R. pedunculata Beauv. 



Madagascar. This palm yields sago but of a very indifferent quality.' 



R. vinifera Beauv. bamboo palm, wine palm. 



Tropical Africa. This species furnishes a palm wine.*" 



Raphiolepis indica Lindl. Rosaceae. Indian hawthorn. 

 China. This species produces an edible fruit." 



Ravenala madagascariensis J. F. Gmel. Scitamineae. travelers' tree. 



Madagascar. Ellis '^ says when a spear is struck into the thick, firm end of the leaf- 

 stalk, a stream of pure, clear water gushes out. There is a kind of natiu-al cavity, or 

 cistern, at the base of the stalk of each of the leaves, and the water collected on the broad 

 and ribbed surface of the leaf, flows down a groove and is stored. The seeds are edible. ' 



Ravensara aromatica J. F. Gmel. Laurineae. Madagascar clove nutmeg, ravensara. 

 A tree of Madagascar. The fruit, leaves and young bark, having the taste of cloves, 

 afford one of the best spices of the island.'^ The kernel of the fruit affords the Madagascar 

 clove nutmegs." 



Martyn Miller's Card. Diet. 1807. 

 Card. Chron. 779. 1866. 



Burr, F. Field, Card. Veg. 384. 1863. 



Ftrminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 140. 1874. 

 ' Card. Chron. 7y<). 1866. 



Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 140. 1874. 

 ' Burr, F. Field, Card. Veg. 384. 1863. 



' Williams, B. S. Choice Stove, Creenhouse Pis. 32. 1876 



' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 630. 1879. {Sagus farinifera) 



' Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:960. 1870. 



" Loudon, J. C. Arb. Frut. Brit. 933. 1844. 



^ Ellis, W. Three Visits Madagas. 335. (Fig. 333.) 1859. 



" Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 2:961. 1870. 



" Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 707. 1879. {Agathophyllum aromalicum) 



" Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 1:28. 1870. 



