584 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



the leaves and evaporating the decoction vintil it acquires the consistence of clay. This 

 gambir is xised for tanning leather, also by dyers and curers, forming an article of export. 

 Among the Mala\-s, the chief use is as a masticatory, in combination with the areca-nut 

 and the betel-leaf.* 



Unona concolor Willd. Attonaceae. 



Guiana. This plant has an acrid and aromatic fruit, used as a pepper by the negroes 

 in Guiana.^ 



U. discolor Vahl. 



Tropical Asia. The fruit is used in the same way as is that of the species above.* 



U. discreta Linn. f. 



Guiana. The purple, aromatic, berries are of a very good taste.^ 



U. dumetorum Dun. ^^ 



1 



Cochin China. The pulp of the fruit is sparing but is of a grateful taste.' 



U. undtxlata Dim. 



Tropical Africa. The plant has an aromatic fruit, which is used as a condiment 

 at Wari in Guinea.* 



Urceola elastica Roxb. Apocynaceae. rubber tree. 



Indian Archipelago. This plant is a gigantic climber which yields Borneo rubber.^ 

 Its fruit, the size of an orange, contains numerous, kidney-shaped seeds nestling in a 

 copious, tawny-colored pvilp, which is much relished both by natives and European resi- 

 dents and is said to taste like well-rotted medlars.' 



Urginea sp.? Liliaceae. 



Equatorial Africa. A species which has nauseous and bitter roots and white flowers 

 and furnishes a vegetable to the natives. Grant ' writes, " the men of the Moon roast 

 its leaves and stalks and cook them as a spinach." 



Urtica dioica Liim. Urticaceae. nettle. 



North temperate regions; naturalized in America from Europe. The nettle, according 

 to Sir Walter Scott,*" was at one time cultivated in Scotland as a potherb. Nettle tops, 

 in the spring, says Lightfoot," are often boiled and eaten by the common people of Scotland 



'Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:779. 1870. {Nauclea gambir) 



'Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 1:95. 1831. {U. aromatica) 



Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 1:56^. 1870. (Habzelia aromatica) 



<Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 1:^5. 1831. 



' Ibid. ' 



Ibid. 



' Brandis, D. Forest Fl. 320. 1874. 



' Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:1193. 1870. 



" Speke, J. H. Journ. Disc. Source Nile 584. 1864, 



" Masters, M. T. Treas. Bot. 2:it()6. 1870. 



" Lightfoot, J. Fl. Scot. 2:579. 1789. 



