COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to the " TBOPIGAL AGRICULTURIST." 
May :- 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Magazine for 
Vol. XIII.] 
MAY, 1902. 
[No. 10. 
TWO USKFUL VEGETABLES. 
HERE are being introduced into our 
villages through the School Gar- 
dens, two useful and wholesome 
vegetables which, though com- 
mon enough in India, are not 
grown in Ceylon ; and as little is 
known about them, we append the following 
notes regarding their uses for the benefit of our 
readers :— 
1. Hume.v Vesicarius. — Sorrel, Bladder Dock 
^Pohjgonacece). This is an annual monoecious her. 
baceous plant, 6 to 12 inches high, with succu- 
lent leaves and leaf-stalks, incliued to branch 
moderately, with a characteristic acid sour taste, 
and a flavour of rhubarb about it. 
Watt gives the following note regarding the 
medicinal properties of the plant : — 
"The juice of the plant is considered by natives 
to be cooling and aperient, and, to a certaia 
extent, diuretic {Ainslie). It is used to allay 
the pains of toothache, and from its astrin- 
gent properties it is supposed to check nausea. 
The whole herb is given internally to nllay 
burning at the pit of the stomach and to im- 
prove the appetite. Externally a pulp formed 
of its bruised leaves is applied to the skin to 
allay the pains of bites of reptiles aud the stings 
of scorpions. The seeds are said to have similar 
properties, and are besides prescribed roasted in 
dysentery. The root also is medicinal (Dym- 
cock). " 
The plant is cultivated as a vegetable almost 
throughout India, and is used by the natives 
both iti the raw and cooksd state. It is 
usually grown in patches near wells, and may 
be procured almost all the year round. 
We are inclined to think that the plant will 
prove of great value to the natives both owing 
to its manuer of growth and its uses. Watt 
gives the word Siin as its Sinhalese name, 
but we can find no reference to the plant in 
any local works ou Botany, nor can we give 
any explanation of the origin of the word *SMrt, 
One thing is certain, however, and that is th.it 
the plant is not found in use nor under culti- 
vation in the Island. 
For native preparations both leaves and stalks 
are well suited, a vegetable curry made of the 
latter being particularly tastety. The same parts 
may also be used to take the place of rhubarb in 
tarts, as the rhubarb flavour, previously referred 
to, predominates in the petioles. The leaves them, 
selves go to make a really excellent jam. 
The plant in its early stages adopts the rosette 
form of growth, as in the lettuce, though tho 
leaves always have fairly long petioles— the 
leaves themselves being somewhat cordate ia 
shape. Later on, as noted above, a system of 
branching follows, the branches being consider- 
ably thicker than the leafstalks and possessing 
•more of the sour taste aud rhubarb flavour. 
When the leaves are cut for use, the plant con- 
tinues to put out a fresh growth, a character- 
istic that goes to enhance the value of the plant 
which may be described as a hardy grower. 
Altogether we consider Rume.v vesicarnis a great 
acquisition, and trust that our village popula- 
tion will take to it without prejudice, and sooa 
