438 - History of Garden Vegetables. [ May 
cal gardens. The first mention of its garden culture that I find 
is by De Candolle,? in 1815, for France. 
Bhitum virgatum L. 
This species was cultivated in France in 1815, and also at 
Geneva and in Germany, but probably only in a slight degree. 
It is also grown in the vegetable gardens at the Mauritius? 
Clusius3 grew it in 1595. Ray* in 1686 had probably never 
seen it in England, for he copies Clusius. 
Borace. Borago officinalis L. 
This plant, of such little consequence in our gardens, yet finds 
place in our seed lists. Native Of the Mediterranean countries, 
it was early cultivated for the use of the leaves and flowers in 
cooling drinks, in salad, and for garnishing. It occurs with blue, 
red, and white flowers, and also with variegated leaves, but the 
ordinary form is the blue flowered. Noisette 5 Says it is more 
used in Italy than in France, but in France Quintyne,® the royal 
gardener in 1690, made several sowings during the summer for 
the supplying of its tender leaves. Ainslie? says it is cultivated 
by Europeans in India, and it was among the plants enumerated 
by Peter Martyr® as planted at Isabella Island by the companions 
of Columbus. It occurs in American seed lists from 1806 to the 
present date, and on account of its general use in England in 
Elizabeth’s time probably came over with English colonists. 
The various colored flowering sorts of Borage are found noted 
or figured by nearly all the ancient herbalists. 
Borage is called in France dourrache officinale, b. batarde, fausse 
bourrache, langue-de-beuf, and langue d'oie; in Germany, Jor- 
retsch gurkenkraut; in Flanders, beruagie; in Italy, doragine, 
borrana; in Spain, borraja; in Portugal, borrajem ;9 in Greece, 
vourasa, armpeta, and arnopetra; in Egypt, lissan el tor., ie., OX 
tongue,” as also in Arabic.” 
= Brocort. Brassica oleracea botrytis, cymosa, Broccoli De C. 
The differences between the most highly improved varieties 
* De Candolle, Fl. Franc., l. c. 2 Bojer, Hort. Maur., 270. 
3 Clusius, Hist., 1601. 4 Ray, l. c., n. 6. 
5 Noisette, Man., 1829, 337. § Quintyne, Comp. Gard., 1704 ed., 182. 
7 Ainslie, Mat. Med., ii. 145. 8 Eden’s Hist. of Trav., 1577, 18. 
2 Vilmorin, Les Pl. Pot., 1883, 54. Pickering, Chron. Hist., 263. 
* 
