58o sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



flourishing, 1751-1768; and it was ctiltivated by the Pimas Indians of the Gila River in 



I799-' 



The northern limit to the growing of wheat is 57 north in Britain, 64 in Norway, 60" 

 in Russia and lower in Siberia.' In North America, wheat is raised with profit at Fort 

 Liard, 60 north. The fine harvests of Egypt and of Algiers, says Humboldt, as well 

 as those of the valleys of Aragua and Cuba, prove that the augmentation of heat is not 

 prejudicial to the harvests of wheat, unless it be attended with an excess of drought or 

 moisture. In the moist region on the slopes of the moimtains of Mexico and Xalapa, the 

 luxuriance of the vegetation is such that wheat does not form ears.' 



The varieties of wheat are almost endless, and their characteristics vary widely under 

 the influence of cultivation and climate. There are 180 distinct sorts in the museum of 

 Cornell University;^ Darwin says Dalbret cultivated dtiring 30 years from 150 to 160 

 kinds; Colonel Le Conteur * possessed upwards of 150; and Philippar,' 322 varieties. The 

 summer and winter kinds were classed by Linnaeus as distinct species but it has been proved 

 that the one can be converted into the other by cultivation. Godron ' describes five 

 species of wheat and De CandoUe ' four. Reports come from little-known regions of 

 distinct kinds; in Japan there is said to be a variety which cannot be forced to grow higher 

 than 20 or 24 inches, though the length of the heads may increase. In general, wheat 

 is the most esteemed of the cereal productions but, so far does habit govern, that in 

 Abyssinia, according to Parkyns,' the flour of teff, or dagussa, scarcely palatable to 

 Europeans, is preferred by the natives to that of any other grain. 



Tropaeolum edule Paxt. Geraniaceae. nasturtium. 



Chile. Mr. Bridges, writing in the Journal of Botany, 1842, says the roots are eaten 

 in times of scarcity in Peru.'* 



T. majus Linn. Indian cress, tall nasturtium. 



Peru. The plant is grown more for ornament than for food ptuposes, but the flowers 

 and young leaves are frequently used to mix in salads, and the seeds, gathered while young 

 and green, are used for pickling and as an excellent substitute for capers." " The seeds 

 of this rare and faire plant came first from the Indies into Spaine and those hot regions, 

 and from thence into France and Flanders, from whence I have received seeds that hath 

 borne with me both flowers and seeds," says Gerarde, 1597.'^ We cannot agree with those 



Whipple and Turner PaciJ. R. R. Rpt. 3: 123. 1856. 

 ' Enc. Brit. 17:630. 



'Humboldt, A. Troi'. 1:498. 1889. 



< Gould Agr. Conn. 25. 1872. 



'Darwin, C. Ans. Ph. Domesl. 1:^,2,2. 1893. 



Ibid. 



'Godron Journ. Roy. Agr. Soc. 19:104. 1858. 



' De CandoUe, A. Geog. Bot. 2:930. 1855. 



' Parkyns Life Abyss, i :3o6. 1856. 

 ^"Card. Chron. y>i. 1842. 

 "Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:170. 1855. 

 "Gerarde, J. Herb. 196. 1597:251. 1633. 



