606 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



X. fmtescens Aubl. 



Tropical America. The seeds have an acrid, aromatic taste and are used by the 

 negroes in Guiana instead of pepper.' 



X. glabra Linn, bitterwood. 



Jamaica. The wood, bark and berries have an agreeable, bitter taste, not tmlike 

 that of the orange seed. Freshly gathered from the tree, the berries are agreeable to the 

 palate and grateful to the stomach.' 



X. sericea A. St. Hil. 



Brazil. Arruda ' says the capsules have the taste and pungency of black pepper 

 and are used by many as a spice in cooking and by some are preferred even to pepper. 

 The fruit, says St. Hilaire,^ has the odor and taste of pepper but is not as strong. It can 

 be employed as a spice. 



X. undulata Beauv. 



Tropical Africa. It also furnishes a similar spice.* 



Xysmalobium heudelotianuni Decne. Asclepiadeae 



Tropical Africa. The plant has a watery, turnip-shaped root, called yakkop by the 

 negroes, by whom it is eaten.* 



Yucca acaulis H. B. & K. Liliaceae. maguey. 



Venezuela. The sweet and fermented juice of this plant yields a spirit by distillation; 

 the yoimg leaves are eaten.' 



Y. baccata Torr. Spanish bayonet. 



Southwestern North America and Mexico. The fruit is the size of a large fig with 

 a sweet, edible pulp.* The Indians of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah are very fond of 

 the fruit and dry it for winter use. The young flower-buds, when about to expand, are 

 also roasted but to Whites are insipid food. Bartlett ' saw in an Apache camp a pot of 

 the flowers boiling for food. 



Y. filamentosa Linn, adam's needle, needle palm. 



Southwestern North America. This 5mcca bears large, fleshy fruits which are 

 edible; they are called datile.^" The fruit, the size of a peach, is used as an article of 

 food. 



Don, G. Hist. DicM. Pis. 1:96. 183 1. 

 Loudon, J. C. Enc. Pis. 481. 1855. 



' Koster, H. Trav. Braz. 2: $62. 1817. ( Unona carminativa) 



Saint Hilaire, A. Fl. Bras. Merid. 1:33. 1825. 



' Smith, A. Treoi. Bo<. 1:564. 1870. {Habzelia undulata) 



Smith, A. Treas. Bot. 2:1243. 1870. 

 'Humboldt, A. rrati. 1:484. 1889. 



Torrey, J. Bot. U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. 2:221. 1859. 



Bartlett, J. R. Explor. Texas 2:4.92. 1854. 



" Torrey, J. Bot. V. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. 2:221. 1859. ( Y. puberula) 



