OUR COMMON VEGETABLES. 



12^ 



those only will admit of being blanched which are produced from 

 white seed, . . . care being taken to tie up the leaves as soon as. 

 ever they begin to come to any size."* 



Chicory. — Cichorium Intybus. This differs from Endive 

 in being perennial. M. Henry L. de Vilmorin,'f in his paper on 

 " Saladings," describes and figures the two kinds in cultivation, 

 viz. "Barbe de Capucin " and the " Witloof " or Brussels 

 Chicory. It occurs wild throughout England, and is cultivated 

 near York for chicory, the enlarged roots being roasted and 

 ground to powder. 



Celery. — Apium graveolens, L., natural order Umbelliferce.. 

 Common in ditches or near our coasts ; remarkable for its strong 

 smell, and is dangerous to eat in the wild form. In Italy r 

 Malta, &c, it is not blanched, but the green leaves are used 

 for soup, &c. Gerarde describes it as " Water Parsley " or 

 " Smallage." Indeed, the word "Celery" is derived from 

 selimon, the Greek for Parsley. In Gerarde' s time (1597) it. 

 was the custom to transplant it from the ditches into gardens,, 

 just as Pliny says the Parsnip was in his day. 



Parsley. — Petroselinum sativum, L. Allied to Celery; is a, 

 native of South Europe and the Levant. English gardeners 

 received iti in 1548; but it was used in medicine in the 14th 

 century, and doubtless earlier. It has naturalised itself in 

 England, and delights in rocks (petros is the Greek for "a 

 stone "), as e.g. over the Avon at Clifton, where it is wild. 

 " Among the ancients Parsley always formed a part of their 

 festive garlands, on account of its retaining its colour. They 

 used to take it as an antidote to the effects of wine." § 



Fruits. 



Haricot or Kidney Bean. — Phaseolus vulgaris, Savi, natural' 



order Leguminosce. This species was for a long time supposed 



to be of Indian origin ; but the discovery of beans of dwarf 



Haricots in certain tombs of Peru in 1880 countenance the 



view that it is of American origin, || though M. J. de Brevans. 



* Nat. Hist. Bk. xix. c. 39. f Journ. B. Hort. Soc. 1890, p. 260. 

 J Phillips, Companion to the Kitchen Garden, ii. p. 35. 

 § Treasury of Botany, s. " Apium." 



|| A. de Candolle discusses the question, and arrives at this conclusion. 

 (Origin of Cult. PI. p. 343.) Gerarde, however (1597), figures twelve sorts 

 of beans called Phaseoli Brasiliani, or " Kidney Beanes of Brasile." This, 

 therefore, seems as if he had been aware of a South American origin. He 

 also calls the " English Kidney Beane " " French Beane." The " Scarlet 

 Runner " is probably a variety of this species. 



