STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 55 1 



S. xanthocarpum Schrad. & Wendl. yellow-berried nightshade. 



Old World tropics. This species is cultivated for its fruit in the Circars. The fruits 

 are much esteemed by the natives, who eat them in their curries.' 



Solidago odora Ait. Compositae. sweet golden-rod. 



Eastern North America. Pursh ^ says the dried flowers make a pleasant and whole- 

 some tea substitute. In the American Naturalist,^ 1879, it is said this plant is used as 

 a tea in Pennsylvania. 



Sonchus oleraceus Linn. Compositae. sow thistle. 



Europe, Asia and naturalized in the United States. This thistle is mentioned as 

 an esculent by Dioscorides. Pliny records that the hospitable Hecate regaled Theseus 

 before his encoimter with the bull of Marathon with a dish of sow thistles. In Germany, 

 the young leaves are put into salads, and this common weed is exceedingly wholesome.* 

 Hooker * says it is eaten by the natives of New Zealand. 



S. tenerrimus Linn. 



Mediterranean region. This thistle is eaten in Italy as a salad.' 



Sonneratia acida Linn. f. Lythrarieae. 



Malay and shores of the East Indies. The fruit is eaten by the natives.'' A. Smith * 

 sa)^ the acid, slightly bitter fruits are eaten as a condiment by the Malays. 



Sophora secundifiora Lag. Leguminosae. 



Mexico. This is the frijolillo of Texas, according to Bellanger. The Indians near 

 San Antonio formerly used it for an intoxicant.' 



Sorghum vulgare Pers. Gramineae. broom corn, durra. Egyptian corn, kaffir 



CORN. negro corn. PAMPAS RICE. RICE CORN. SORGHUM. TENNESSEE RICE. 



Tropics and subtropics. This species is supposed to be a native of Africa, perhaps 

 of Abyssinia, and has been cultivated in China from a remote period. Doolittle '" says 

 the Chinese make a coarse kind of bread from the flour of the seeds of sorghtim, eaten 

 principally by the poorer classes. The best kind of Chinese whiskey, often called Chinese 

 wine, is distilled from the seeds. This Chinese form was imported into France from the 

 north of China about 185 1 and, through the agency of the Patent Office, it was obtained 

 from France in 1854 and distributed in the United States. Of the French importation 



' Drury, H. Usefid Pis. Ind. 397. 1873. 

 ' Porcher, P. P. Res. So. Fields, Forests 458. 1869. 

 ' Amer. Nat. 345. 1879. 



* Johnson, C. P. Useful Pis. Gt. Brit. 142, 143. 1862. 

 'Hooker, J. D. Bet. Antarctic Voy. 2:324. 1847. 

 Johns, C. A. Treas. Bot. 2:1072. 1870. 

 ' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 727. 1879. 

 'Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2: 10-/3. 1870. 

 Havard, V. Torr. Bot. Club Bui. 23:39. 1896. 

 "> Doolittle, J. Social Life Chinese 25. 1868. Note. 



