Glycine-Grevillea (Sturtevant, 1919)

← Gigantochloa-Glyceria

Sturtevant, Notes on edible plants, 1919 Glycine-Grevillea (Sturtevant, 1919)

Grewia →

Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.

Leguminosae. COFFEE BEAN. SOJA BEAN. SOY BEAN.

Tropical Asia. This bean is much cultivated in tropical Asia for its seeds, which are used as food in India, China and Japan. It is an ingredient of the sauce known as soy. Of late, it has been cultivated as an oil plant. In 1854, two varieties, one white- and the other red-seeded, were obtained from Japan and distributed through the agency of the Patent Office. At the late Vienna Exposition, samples of the seed were shown among the agricultural productions of China, Japan, Mongolia, Transcaucasia and India. Professor Haberland says this plant has been cultivated from early ages and that it grows wild in the Malay Archipelago, Java and the East Indies. In Japan, it is called miso. Of late, its seeds have appeared among the novelties in our seed catalogs. According to Bretschneider, a Chinese writing of 163-85 B. C. records that Shen nung, 2800 B. C., sowed the five cereals, and another writing of A. D. 127-200 explains that these five cereals were rice, wheat, Panicum italicum Linn., P. miliaceum Linn. and the soja bean. The use of this bean as a vegetable is also recorded in authors of the fifth, fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The first European mention of the soja bean is by Kaempfer,9 who was in Japan in 1690. In his account of his travels, he gives considerable space to this plant. It also seems to be mentioned by Ray, 1704. This bean is much cultivated in China and Cochin China. There are a large number of varieties. Seeds were brought from Japan to America by the Perry Expedition on its return and were distributed from the United States Patent Office in 1854. In France; seeds were distributed in 1855. In 1869, Martens described 13 varieties.

Glycosmis pentaphylla Correa.

Rutaceae. JAMAICA MANDARIN ORANGE.

Tropical Asia and Australia. This Asiatic tree is noted for the delicious flavor of its fruit. It is the mandarin orange of Jamaica and is grown as a fruit tree in the Public Gardens of Jamaica. The ripe fruit is eaten.

Glycyrrhiza asperrima Linn. f.

Leguminosae. WILD LICORICE.

Russia and central Asia. Pallas says the leaves are used by the Kalmucks as a substitute for tea.

Glycyrrhiza echinata Linn.

WILD LICORICE.

Southern Europe and the Orient. From the root of this herb, a portion of the Italian licorice is prepared. The Russian licorice root is of this species.

Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn.

LICORICE.

South Europe, northern Africa and Persia. This plant is cultivated in England, Germany and the north of France. Licorice root is used in medicine and in brewing porter. The leaves, called nakhalsa are employed by the Mongols as substitutes for tea.

Glycyrrhiza lepidota Pursh.

WILD LICORICE.

North America. The root is eaten by the Indians of Alaska and the northwestern states.

Gmelina arborea Roxb.

Verbenaceae.

Tropical India and Burma. The yellow drupe is eaten by the Gonds of the Satpura who protect the tree near villages.

Gnetum gnemon Linn.

Gnetaceae.

Malay. The seeds are eaten in Amboina, roasted, boiled or fried, and the green leaves are a favorite vegetable, cooked and eaten as spinach.

Gomortega nitida Ruiz & Pav.

(Gomortegaceae)

This is a large tree of Chile called queule or keule. The fruit is the size of a small peach; the eatable part is yellow, not very juicy, but is of a most excellent and grateful taste.

Gomphia jabotapita Sw.

Ochnaceae. BUTTON TREE.

Tropical America. Piso says the carpels are astringent and are not only eaten raw, but that an oil is expressed from them, which is used in salads.

Gomphia parviflora DC.

BUTTON TREE.

Brazil. The oil expressed from the fruit is used for salads.

Goniothalamus walkeri Hook. f. & Thorns.

Anonaceae.

Ceylon. The roots are very fragrant and are said to contain camphor. They are chewed by the Singhalese.

Gonolobus hispidus Hook. & Am.

Asclepiadeae. ANGLE-POD.

South America. The pod is described by Tweedie as being very large, resembling a toad, and is eaten by the natives.

Gossypium herbaceum Linn.

Malvaceae. COTTON.

Tropical Asia. During the War of the Rebellion, cotton seed came into some use as a substitute for coffee, the seed having been parched and ground. The oil expressed from the seed makes a fine salad oil and is also used for cooking and as a butter substitute.

Gouania domingensis Linn.

Rhamneae. CHAW-STICK.

West Indies. The stems are used for flavoring cooling beverages.

Gourliea chilensis Clos.

Leguminosae. CHANAL. CHANAR.

Tropical South America. This plant is called chanar or chanal in Chile and Buenos Aires. According to Tweedie, the pulp of the fruit is used in flavoring sweet wines.

Gracilaria lichenoides L. Harv.

Algae. AGAR-AGAR.

Coast of Ceylon and the opposing portion of the Malayan Archipelago. This seaweed is highly valued for food in Ceylon and other islands of the East. It abounds in Burma and is of superior quality on the Tenasserim Coast.

Greigia sphacelata Regel.

Bromeliaceae.

Chile. The sweet, pulpy fruits, called chupon, are greedily eaten by children.

Grevillea sp.?

Proteaceae. SILK-BARK OAK.

A species at Swan River Colony, Australia, has a large, yellow, spicate inflorescence nearly a foot long. The natives, says Drummond, collect the flowers and suck the honey from them. They call the plant woadjar.