Edible Wild Fruits of New York. 



85 



eastern, central and western parts. It delights in rich soils and grows 

 both in thin woods and in pastures and open places. It is a perennial 

 herb, spreads by creeping root-stocks and forms patches of greater or 

 less extent. The stems are about a foot high and usually bear two 

 broad leaves and a single fruit which is at the top of the stem. This 

 fruit is of a yellowish or greenish-yellow color and of a soft, pulpy 

 texture. It is equal to a large plum in size, and when thoroughly ripe 

 is edible. Writers differ in their estimate of its quality, some saying 

 that it is mawkish and disagreeable, others that it is hardly palatable, 

 and others still that it has an agreeable strawberry-like flavor. Pro- 

 fessor Gray pronounces it sweet, pulpy and eatable. I suspect this 

 difference of estimate is due to differences of taste and to differences in 

 the degree of ripeness of the fruit eaten. In my own experience I 

 have found the thoroughly ripe fruit very agreeably flavored; that 

 which was not so ripe, quite unpleasant. The plant can scarcely be 

 recommended for cultivation for the sake of its fruit alone, since the 

 quantity that could be produced on an acre of land would necessarily 

 be limited, and much less than of many other fruits equally good and 

 more easily raised. The root has long been reputed medicinal, but 

 the leaves when used as a pot herb have proved deleterious. 



The yellow nelumbo [NelumUum luteum) has a single station 

 within our limits. There is a large patch of it at the head of Big 

 Sodus bay in Wayne county. This is so remote from other localities 

 of the plant that some have thought the plant may have been placed 

 there by Indians, who made use of its seeds and its tuberous root-stocks 

 for food. The seeds are said to resemble filberts or chestnuts in flavor, 

 and to be improved by roasting. The plant is a magnificant aquatic 

 and worthy of cultivation for ornament, if not for its fruit, for its 

 large yellowish flowers are very showy. I have been told that these 

 are so eagerly sought and have been so thoroughly plucked in the lo- 

 cality mentioned that it is now difficult to obtain them. 



Of wild grapes we have four species. These are very variable and 

 it has been somewhat difficult to define the North American species 

 by satisfactory and constant characters. Rafinesque described a large 

 number of so-called species, most of which were mere forms or varie- 

 ties, which have never been admitted as species by other botanists. 

 The chief distinguishing characters of the New York species, accord- 

 ing to the latest and commonly-accepted authorities, may be briefly 

 noted. 



The northern fox grape ( Vitis Labrusca) has the lower surface of 

 its leaves covered with a persistent, cottony tomenture, which is 



