570 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



Thlaspi arvense Linn. Cruciferae. penny cress. 



Europe and northern Asia. This plant is classed as an edible cress by Loudon. It 

 is a cultivated vegetable.* 



Thrinax argentea Lodd. Palmae. broom palm, silver thatch. 



A palm of the West Indies and Panama. The imdeveloped leaves, or cabbage, form 

 an excellent vegetable.^ 



Thuya gigantea Nutt. Coniferae. 



Western North America. Nuttall ' says the cambitun is used as food by the Indians 

 of Oregon. 



T. occidentalis Linn. American arbor vitae. white cedar. 



North America and Siberia. Thoreau,* In the Maine Woods, says, " This night we 

 had a dish of arbor-vitae, or cedar tea, which the lumberman sometimes uses when other 

 herbs fail." He did not find it very palatable. 



Thymus capitatus Hoffmgg. & Link. Lahiatae. headed savory. 



The Levant ; introduced into Britain in 1596. This plant is used as savory for season- 

 ing. ' This species is omitted from our most modem books on gardening, although recorded 

 in American gardens as late as 1863.*- It is mentioned as imder cultiu-e in many of the 

 early works on botany and gardening. 



T. serpyllum Linn, lemon thyme, wild thyme. 



Europe and sparingly naturalized in some localities in northeastern America. In 

 1726, Townsend ' speaks of it in English gardens but not as a potherb. It is placed among 

 American potherbs by McMahon,* 1806. At the present time, lemon thyme is occa- 

 sionally used for seasoning in England. In Iceland, it is used to give an agreeable flavor 

 to sour milk. The odor of the leaves is quite agreeable, and they are thought to be a 

 desirable seasoning for veal. Don ' says the flavor of the leaves is milder and more grate- 

 ful than those of T. vulgaris. 



T. vulgaris Linn, thyme. 



Southern coimtries of Europe but long cultivated in more northern cotmtries. In 

 English culture, thyme is recorded about 1548 '" and is mentioned by Gerarde, 1597, and 

 succeeding authors. It succeeds as an annvial even in Iceland " and is recorded as grown 

 in the tropical gardens of the Mauritius.'^ Three varieties are known: the narrow-leaved, 



' Bretschneider, E. Bot. Sin. 53. 1882. 



' Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:ii^T. 1870. 



> Nuttall, T. No. Amer. Sylva 2:163. 1865. 



* Thoreau Me. Woods 72. 1877. 



Mcintosh, C. Book Gard. 2:238.. 1855 (Satureja capitata) 

 Burr, P. Field, Gard. Veg. 442. 1863. (Saturjea capitata) 

 ' Townsend Seedsman 35. 1726. 

 'McMahon, B. Amer. Gard. Cal. 583. 1806. 



Don, G. Hist. DicM. Pis. 4:768. 1838. 

 "Booth, W.B. rreai. Bo/. 2:1149. 1870. 

 " Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 487. 1879. 

 Bojer, W. Hart. Maurit. 248. 1837. 



