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Edible Wild Fruits of Xeiv York. 



which are too coarse to be swallowed with satisfaction. A fruit whose 

 seed is large and single, as in the peach and the plum, is less objec- 

 tionable, because its seed is easily extracted. For summer use, espe- 

 cially, juicy fruit3 are more desirable, inasmuch as they supply the 

 system with an abundance of pure water, a thing which is now quite 

 difficult to obtain in many of our cities and villages. A fruit that in 

 its wild state is variable in size, shape, color and flavor, gives better 

 promise of improvement by cultivation than one that is fixed in its 

 characters, for it shows a greater susceptibility to change of character 

 and gives more opportunity for selection, for the crossing of varieties 

 and for the gratification of different tastes. One that is not particular 

 as to soil and locality, in other words, one that has a wide geographical 

 range, is more likely to be valuable than one that is extremely local. 

 To these general statements it will not be difficult to find exceptions, 

 but these do not invalidate the principle. 



Among our apparently wild fruits are some that have been, or still 

 are, cultivated. They have escaped from cultivation, either by the 

 scattering of the seed, or by the neglect or abandonment of the culti- 

 vator. The apple, peach and barberry are examples of this kind. We 

 call them introduced or naturalized species, inasmuch as they have 

 been brought here from other localities. They constitute but a small 

 percentage of our edible wild fruits. 



Following the order of arrangement laid down in our botanies, the 

 first fruit to claim our attention is the American papaw (Asimina 

 triloba). The plant, which is a shrub or small tree, barely enters our 

 State on the west. The fruit is oblong or somewhat oval, varying 

 from one to three inches in length, yellowish in color, and when fully 

 ripe is fragrant, sweet and eatable. The species was formerly reported 

 from three or four stations in the western part of the State, but it has 

 now become very scarce and is, I fear, in danger of extinction from 

 our State flora, if it has not already disappeared. The common bar- 

 berry (Berberis vulgaris) has been introduced into this country either 

 as an ornamental shrub or as a hedge plant, but it has escaped from 

 cultivation and become spontaneous in some places. It bears beauti- 

 ful clusters of yellow flowers, followed by bright red or scarlet, acid, 

 oblong berries which are sometimes eaten or made into jelly. T ne 

 plant has a bad reputation in Europe, because it harbors one form of 

 the fungus that causes the rust of the wheat fields. 



The mandrake {Podophyllum peltatum), called also May apple, love 

 apple and wild lemon, belongs botanically to the same family as the 

 barberry. It is common in many parts of the State, especially in the 



