STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 503 



Ricinus communis Linn. Euphorbiaceae. castor oil plant. 



Tropics. In China, S. Wells Williams * says castor oil is used in cooking. Smith ' 

 sa3^ in his Materia Medica of China that a species or variety of Ricinus is said to have 

 smooth fruit and to be innocuous. 



Robinia flava Lour. Leguminosae. 



North China. The taste of the root is sweetish and mucilaginous and would seem 

 to justify, says Smith,' its consumption as a food in times of scarcity, as mentioned for 

 China in the Pen Ts'au. 



R. pseud-acacia Linn, false acacia, locust. 



South Pennsylvania, southward along the mountains and naturalized in some other 

 places. Yellow locust is commonly cultivated as an ornamental tree. The seeds, upon 

 pressure, j'ield a large quantity of oil. They are quite acid but lose this quality upon 

 boiling; they furnish a pleasant, nutritious article of food, much esteemed by the 

 aborigines.* 



Rollinia sieberi A. DC. Anonaceae. sugar apple. 



Mexico. This is one of the fruit trees cultivated in the Public Gardens of Jamaica.' 

 It is also cultivated in the Moluccas. The flesh of the fniit is very soft and of an unpleasant 

 taste.* 



R. sylvatica Warm. 



Brazil. The plant is called araticu do mato and its fruit is good to eat.' 



Rosa acicularis Lindl. Rosaceae. 



Northern Asia and North America. In the Amur coimtry, a much larger and better 

 fruit than that of R. canina is afforded by this species.* 



R. canina Linn, brier rose, dog-brier. 



Europe and temperate Asia. The fruits of this wild rose have a scanty, orange, acid, 

 edible pulp and were collected in ancient times in Europe when garden fruits were few 

 and scarce. Galen ^ mentions them as gathered by country people in his day, as they 

 still are in Europe. Gerarde "* remarks that " the fruit when it is ripe makes most pleasant 

 meats and banqueting dishes, as tarts and such like."" Lightfoot ^ says the pulp of the 



' Williams, S. W. U. S. Pal. Of. Rpt. 474. i860. 



'Smith, F. P. Contrib. Mat. Mtd. China 55. 1871. 



' Smith, F. P. Contrib. Mat. Med. China 51. 1871. 



Millspaugh Amer. Med. Pis. 1: No. 50. I. 1887. 



' Morris Rpt. Pub. Card. Jam. 35. 1880. 



' Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Ph. i:8g. 1831. (Anona mucosa) 



' Don, G. Hisl. Dichl. Pis. 1:88. 1831. 



' Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 268. 1879. 



' Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 238. 1879. 



' Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



" Lightfoot, J. Fl. Scot. 1:262. 1789. 



