Correa-Crambe (Sturtevant, 1919)

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Sturtevant, Notes on edible plants, 1919 Correa-Crambe (Sturtevant, 1919)

Craniolaria-Cucumeropsis →

Correa alba Andr.

Rutaceae

Australia. Henfrey says the leaves are used by the Australian settlers for a tea.

Corydalis bulbosa DC.

Papaveraceae. FUMEWORT.

Northern Europe. This species has a tuberous root, which, when boiled, furnishes the Kalmuck Tartars with a starchy substance much eaten by them.

Corylus americana Walt.

Cupuliferae. HAZELNUT.

North America. This species bears well-flavored nuts but they are smaller and thicker shelled than the European hazel. The nuts are extensively gathered as a food by the Indians in some places.

Corylus avellana Linn.

COBNUT. FILBERT. HAZELNUT.

Europe and Asia Minor. This species includes not only the hazelnut but all of the European varieties of filbert. It was cultivated by the Romans, and Pliny says the name is derived from Abellina in Asia, supposed to be the valley of Damascus. Pliny adds that it had been brought into Greece from Pontus, hence it was also called nux pontica. The nut was called by Theophrastus, keraclotic nuts, from Heraclea — now Ponderachi — on the Asiatic shore of the Black Sea. These names probably refer to particular varieties as the species is common in Europe and adjoining Asia. In Peacham's Emblems, we find it stated that the name filbert is derived from Philibert, a king of France, who "caused by arte sundry kinds to be brought forth." There are a number of varieties. The best nuts come from Spain and are known as Barcelona nuts. Cobnuts and filberts are largely grown in Kent, England. In Kazan, Russia, the nuts are so plentiful that an oil used as food is expressed from them. Filberts were among the seeds mentioned in the Memorandum of Mar. 16, 1629, to be sent to the Massachusetts Company and are now to be occasionally found in gardens in Virginia and elsewhere.

Corylus colurna Linn.

COBNUT.

Eastern Europe, Asia Minor and Himalayan region. This plant furnishes the imported cobnuts of Britain. The kernels form an important article of food in some parts of the hills of India. The nuts are known in England as cobnuts or Turkish nuts. This tree was carried from Pontus to Macedonia and Thrace and has been distributed throughout Italy. It was brought to Germany in the sixteenth century.

Corylus ferox Wall.

Himalayan region. This species bears a small, thick-shelled nut, in taste like the common hazel.

Corylus rostrata Ait.

BEAKED HAZELNUT.

Northeastern America. The plant bears a well-flavored nut.

Corylus tubulosa Willd.

LAMBERT'S NUT. LOMBARDY-NUT.

Asia Minor and Southern Europe. This species furnishes the Lombardy, or Lambert's nut.

Corynocarpus laevigata Forst.

Anacardiaceae. NEW ZEALAND LAUREL.

New Zealand. The pulp of the drupe of this tree is edible, but the embryo is considered poisonous until steeped in salt water. Bennett says it is valued for its fruit and seeds, the former of the size of a plum, pulpy in the interior and sweet. The seeds are used in times of scarcity and contain a tasteless, farinaceous substance. The new seeds are, however, poisonous until steamed for a day and soaked.

Corypha gebanga Blume.

Palmae. GEBANG PALM.

Malay. The pithy substance of the trunk yields a sort of sago.

Costus speciosus Sm.

Scitamineae. WILD GINGER.

East Indies and Malay. Ainslie says the natives of India preserve the root and deem it very wholesome. Lunan says the roots of wild ginger are sometimes used as ginger but are not as good. Browne says this species is found everywhere in the woods of Jamaica.

Cotyledon edulis Brewer.

Crassulaceae.

California. The young leaves are eaten by the Indians.

Cotyledon spinosa Linn.

North America. The leaves are agreeably acid and are eaten.

Cotyledon umbilicus Linn.

NAVELWORT.

Europe and the adjoining portions of Asia. This plant is classed by Loudon as a spinach.

Couepia chrysocalyx Benth.

Rosaceae.

Brazil. This beautiful tree is said by Mr. Spruce to grow plentifully along the Amazon River from the Barra upward. The Indians plant it near their houses for the sake of its edible fruits.

Couepia guianensis Aubl.

Guiana. The seed is edible. The fruit contains a sweet oil like that of the almond.

Couma utilis Muell.

Apocynaceae.

Brazil. This species bears a fruit known as couma which is said by Bates to be delicious. The fruit is a berry containing several seeds embedded in a pulp.

Couroupita guianensis Aubl.

Myrtaceae. CANNON-BALL TREE.

Guiana and Cayenne. The pulp of the fruit is vinous, white, acid and not disagreeable.

Crambe cordifolia Stev.

Cruciferae. COLEWORT.

Persia and the Caucasus to Thibet and the Himalayas. The root and foliage afford an esculent.

Crambe maritima Linn.

SEA KALE. SCURVY GRASS.

This plant is found growing upon the sandy shores of the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and of the Mediterranean Sea. It appears to have been known to the Romans, who gathered it in a wild state and preserved it in barrels for use during long voyages. Although Crambe is recorded by Pena and Lobel, Dalechamp, Gerarde, and Ray as wild on the coast of Britain and as fit for food, yet it was brought into English culture from Italy, a few years preceding 1765, and the seed sold at a high price as a rarity. In 1778, it is said to "be now cultivated in many gardens as a choice esculent;" in 1795, it was advertised in the London market. According to Heuze, it was first cultivated in France by Quintyne, gardener to Louis XIV, but it is not mentioned in Quintyne of 1693; it, however, is mentioned by the French works on gardening of 1824 and onward. Parkinson notices it in England in 1629 and Bryant does also, about 1783, but Philip Miller first wrote upon it as an esculent in 1731, saying the people of Sussex gather the wild plants in the spring. It is recorded that bundles of it were exposed for sale in the Chichester markets in 1753 but it was not known about London until 1767. In 1789, Lightfoot speaks of "the young leaves covered up with sand and blanched while growing," constituting when boiled a great delicacy. Sea kale is now very popular in English markets and is largely used in France, the blanched stems and leaf-stalks being the parts used. It is mentioned by McMahon, 1609, in his list of American esculents. In 1809, John Lowell, Roxbury, Massachusetts, cultivated it and in 1814 introduced it to the notice of the public. In 1828, Thorbum, in his seed catalog of that year, says it "is very little known in the United States, though a most excellent garden vegetable and highly deserving of cultivation." The same might be said now, although its seeds are advertised for sale in all leading seed lists.

Crambe orientalis Linn.

Asia Minor and Persia. Pallas says the Russians use it. Its roots resemble those of horseradish, but they are often thicker than the human arm. The root is dug for the use of the table as a substitute for horseradish, and the younger stalks may be dressed in the same manner as broccoli.

Crambe tatarica Jacq.

TARTAR BREAD-PLANT.

Eastern Europe and northern Asia. This is a plant of the steppes region along the Lower Danube, Dneiper and the Don. The root is fleshy, sweet and the thickness of a man's arm. It is eaten raw as a salad in Hungary, as well as cooked, as is the case with the young shoots of the stem. In times of famine, it has been used as bread in Hungary and, says Unger, it is probable that it was the chara caesaris which the soldiers of Julius Caesar used as bread.