512 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



found growing wild in New Jersey about 1845; New Rochelle, found in New York; New- 

 man's Thomless, also in New York; and Wilson's Early, discovered in New Jersey about 

 1854. In 1867, Fuller ' describes 18 sorts in cultivation. There is a variety cultivated 

 abroad, says Downing,' with white fruits. The commencement of the cultivation of 

 improved varieties seems to date from the appearance of the Dorchester, first exhibited 

 at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1841. The fruit is highly esteemed by the 

 Indians of Missotui, Texas, California and Minnesota. Cabeza de Vaca, 1528-35, says 

 the Indians of the Southwest eat blackberries during four months of the year. Eight 

 varieties, in 1879, were cataloged by the American Pomological Society as worthy of 

 cultivation. 



Ruellia tuberosa Linn. Acanikaceae. menow-weed. snapdragon. 



Jamaica. Browne ' says the plant has oblong, fleshy roots, which are frequently 

 used among the negroes. These, when fresh, have a little pungency, which soon wears 

 upon the palate but when dry they are quite insipid. 



Riunez abyssinicus Jacq. Polygonaceae. 



Eastern equatorial Africa. Grant ' says the people of Fipa are said to eat its leaves. 



R. acetosa Lirm. sorrel, sour dock. 



Europe and northern Asia. This plant was formerly cultivated in gardens for its 

 leaves, which were used in Britain as spinach or in salads, and, in the time of Henry VIII, 

 it was held in great repute. Sorrel is mentioned in nearly all of the earlier botanies as 

 under culture in England; Gerarde,' 1597, also figures the blistered variety. It is spoken 

 of by nearly all the later writers on garden subjects and was in common use in 1807;* but, 

 in 1874, is said to have been for many years entirely discarded, the French sorrel having 

 usurped its place.' The common sorrel, says Mcintosh," has been cviltivated from time 

 immemorial as a spinach and salad plant." Johnson says it is still used to a great extent 

 for salads in France. In Ireland, it is largely consimied by the peasantry. Sorrel seems 

 to -be particularly relished by the Hebrideans.'^ The Laplanders boil a large quantity 

 of the leaves in water and mix the juice, when cold, in the milk of their reindeer, which 

 they esteem an agreeable and wholesome food." In Scandinavia, the plant has been 

 used in times of scarcity to put into bread. It is mentioned as an inmate of American 



' Fuller Sm. Fr. Cult. 172. 1867. 

 ' Downing, A. J. Fr. Fr. Trees Amer. 663. 1857. 

 Smith, B. Rel. De Vaca 79. 1871. 

 < Amer. Pom. Soc. Cat. XVIIL 1879. 

 ' Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 2:1^4. 1814. 

 ' Speke, J. H. Journ. Disc. Source Nile 580. 1864 

 ' Gerarde, J. Herb. ^ig. 1597. 

 Martyn Miller's Card. Diet. 1807. 

 Booth, W. B. Treas. Bot. 3:998. 1870. 

 "> Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2: 139. 1855. 

 " Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Gt. Brit. 222. 1862. 

 " Journ. Agr. 2:379. 1831. 

 " Lightfoot, J. Fl. Scot. i:igi. 1789. 



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