588 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



are eaten occasionally but in any " large quantity cause giddiness and headache." In 

 Siberia, the berries are fermented, distilled and furnish a strong alcoholic spirit. It is 

 said that the berries are used in France to color wine. Richardson ' says, beyond the 

 Arctic circle this species is, in good seasons, plentiful to an extraordinary degree and is 

 of a finer quality than in more southern localities. 



V. vacillans Soland. low blueberry. 



From Massachusetts and Vermont to Pennsylvania. This vaccinium has a small 

 bush, with rather late-ripening berries. 



V. vitis-idaea Linn, cowberry, cranberry, foxberry. 



Northern and arctic regions. This is the wi-sa-gu-mina of the Crees and the cranberry 

 most plentiful and most used throughout Rupert's Land. This berry, says Richardson,^ 

 is excellent for every purpose to which a cranberry can be applied. Thoreau,' in the 

 Maine woods, made his desserts on these berries stewed and sweetened, but Gray * says 

 they are barely edible in America. The fruit is not much eaten in Britain but is greatly 

 valued in Sweden. The berries are tasteless and but little acid when gathered but, after 

 exposure to frost, they become very sour. They are often sold in the London market 

 as cranberries. In Siberia, they are kept in water in winter, where they acquire their 

 proper acidity and are eaten in spring.' 



Valeriana comucopiae Linn. Valerianeae. African valerian. 



African valerian is a recent introduction into gardens and furnishes in its leaves a salad 

 of excellent quality. The plant is native to the Mediterranean region in grain fields and 

 in waste places. C. Bauhin,* 1596, speaks of it as if of recent introduction to botanical 

 gardens in his time; and Clusius,' 1601, J. Baxihin,' 1651, and Ray,' 1686, all describe it. 

 This valerian is not spoken of as under cultivation in Miller's Dictionary, 1807, nor does 

 Don in his Gardener's Dictionary, 1834, speak of any use, although he is usually very ready 

 with such information. In 1841, the Bon Jardinier, in France, refers to it as being a good 

 salad plant. As neither Noisette,'" 1830, nor Petit," 1826, nor PiroUe,*'' 1824, mentions 

 it, we may assiune that it had not entered the vegetable garden at these dates. In 1863, 

 Burr " describes African valerian among American garden vegetables, as does Vilmorin '* 



' Richardson, J. Arctic Explor. 2:300. 1851. 

 'Richardson,!. Arctic Explor. 2:^01. 1851. 



Thoreau Me. Woods 30. 1877. 



* Gray, A. Man. Bot. 290. 1868. 



'Johnson, C. P. UseftU Pis. Gt. Brit. 164. 1862. 



'Bauhin, C. Phytopinax 293. 1596; Pinox 164. 1623; Prod. 87. 1671. 



' Clusius Hist. 2 : 54. 1 60 1 . 



*Bauhin, J. Hist. PI. siPt. 2, 212. 1651. 



Ray Hist. PI. 394. 1686. 

 " Noisette Man. Jard. 1830. 

 " Petit Diet. Jard. 1826. 

 ^'Pkolle L'Hort. Franc. 1824-25. 

 " Burr, F. Field, Card. Veg. 401. 1863. 

 " Vilmorin Lei P/i. Poiog. 562. 1883. (Fedia comucopiae) 



