DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 373 



of the gardens of the natives for the sake of its oily seeds. The axillary tubular 

 flowers have a 5-cleft calyx and a 5-parted corolla, the lowest lobe of which is pro- 

 longed; stamens 4 (2 pairs of unequal length), with the rudiment of a fifth; capsule 

 oblong, quadrangular, 2-valved, many-seeded. 



In Guam this plant is not of much economic importance. The seeds yield an 

 abundance of fixed oil, which is clear and nearly tasteless, and may be used like 

 olive oil. The best oil for food purposes is expressed from the cold seed.« The 

 parched seeds are used in many countries to give a flavor to cakes, sweetmeats, and 

 salads, and when parched and pounded they are made into a savory soup. 



One of the chief advantages of this plant consists in its quick return of produce. 

 It does not thrive so well in moist tropical countries where the rainfall is continu- 

 ous as in regions where the rainfall is regular and not excessive, or where the crop 

 can be irrigated. It will not grow in localities incapable of drainage, but thrives in 

 alluvial sandy soil. The seed is sown at the beginning of the rainy season. The 

 plant blooms in two months and at the end of three or four months the seed is 

 ripe. The plants are then cut or pulled up and piled in heaps until the leaves have 

 shriveled and fallen off. They are then hung up to dry in the sun. The pods 

 burst open and the seeds are allowed to fall on mats or cloths placed to catch them. 

 The bunches are also beaten so as to cause the remaining seed to fall. The seeds 

 may be hulled by gently pounding them in a wooden mortar with a wooden pestle. 

 The hulls contain a yellow coloring matter. The kernels are white and tasteless. 

 When parched they have a nutty flavor. A very good candy is made by melting 

 sugar, as for peanut brittle, pouring it in shallow pans, and sprinkling over it sesame 

 seed. The heat of the melted sugar is sufficient to parch the seeds and to give them 

 a rich aromatic flavor. In South Carolina, where sesame is cultivated by the negroes 

 as a catch crop in cotton fields, candy of this kind is made by the confectioners. 



Three varieties are recognized, distinguished by the color of the seeds. Yellow 

 and white sesame seeds are used in Japan for oil-making, while the black seeds are 

 used for cooking, either whole or ground into a coarse powder. b 

 References: 

 Sesamum orientate L. Sp. PL 1 : 634. 1753. 

 Sesban or Sesbania grandiflora. See Agati grandiflora. 



Sesuvium portulacastrum. Seaside purslane. 



Family Aizoaceae. 



Local names. — Chara (Guam); Tarampulit, Karampalit, Dampalit, Bilangbi- 

 lang (Philippines) ; Verdolaga de Costa (Cuba). 



A succulent, branching, prostrate, strand plant of wide tropical distribution, some- 

 times forming mounds on the sandy beach. Leaves opposite, entire, nearly veinless; 

 flowers axillary,- without petals; calyx 5-parted, green outside, purplish or rose- 

 colored within; stamens many; styles 3 to 5; capsule 3 to 5-celled, circumscissile 

 through the middle, the upper part like a lid, falling away when ripe, and leaving 

 the lower part attached to the plant; seeds black, shining, smooth. 



The entire plant is eaten cooked like spinach. It is rather salty. In some parts 

 of India it is cultivated as a pot herb. 

 References : 

 Sesuvium portulacastrum Stickman, Herb. Amb. 1754; Amoen. Acad. 4: 136. 

 1759. 

 Setaria aurea Hochst. Same as Chaetochloa glauca aurea. 

 Setaria glauca aurea K. Sch. Same as Chaetochloa glauca aurea. 



«See Hicks, Oil-producing seeds, Yearbook IT. S. Dept. Agr., 1895, p. 197. 

 & See Descriptive Cat. Agr. Prods. Japan, World's Columbian Exposition, p. 52, 

 1893. 



