42 The American Naturalist. [January, 
PARA CRESS. Spilanthes sp. 
Under the name of Para cress several species of Spilanthes are 
occasionally cultivated, the piquant leaves being mixed with 
other salads, and having the property of stimulating the salivary | 
glands; they should hence be classed with medical salads. 
Spilanthes oleracea L. 
Recorded as cultivated in France™ in 1860 and in 1824, and in 
the Mauritius™ in 1837, and is used also as a salad in the Mas- 
carenhas, the East Indies and South America”? 
It is calted in France cresson de Para, spilanthe, spilanthe des 
potageres,™4 abecedaire;™5in Germany, hussarenknopf; in Flanders, 
ABC kruid ;™ in Japan, koko so.u6 
Spilanthes fusca H. P. 
This species also cultivated,” and seems to be the cresson du 
Bresil of Vilmorin.™ 
PARSLEY, Apium petroselinum L. 
This biennial is found wild in southern Europe, from Spain to 
Macedonia, also in Algiers and in the Lebanon."8 It seems to be 
the apium of the ancient Romans, the selinon of Theophrastus, 
who, 322 B. C., describes two varieties, one with crowded, dense 
leaves, the other with more open and broader leafage. Columella” 
A. D. 42, speaks of the broad-leaved and curled sorts, and gives 
directions for the culture of each, and, A. D. 79, Pliny”! mentions 
the cultivated form as having varieties with a thick leaf,a crisp 
leaf, etc., evidently copying from Theophrastus. He adds, how- 
ever, from apparently his own observation, that the apium is in 
general esteem, for the sprays find use in large quantities in broths, 
11 Noisette. Man., 1860, II., 367; L'Hort. "ê Black. Treas. of Bot. 
ran., 1824. 117 Bon Jard., 1882, 567. 
u2 Bojer. Hort. Maurit., 1837, 184. 118 Decandolle. Orig. Des. Pl. Cult., 72. 
ns Unger. Pat. Off. - 1859, 356. 119 Theophrastus. Lib. VII., c. 4. 
u Vilmorin. Les Pl. Pot., 198. 120 Columella, Lib. XI., c. 3. 
115 Noisette, 1. c., 367- I Pliny. Lib, XIX., c. 37, ¢. 46. Lib. XX., c. 44- 
