Embelia-Epilobium (Sturtevant, 1919)

← Elaeagnus-Elymus

Sturtevant, Notes on edible plants, 1919 Embelia-Epilobium (Sturtevant, 1919)

Equisetum-Euclea →

Embelia nagushia D. Don.

Myrsineae.

Himalayan region. The fruits are eaten in Sikkim as well as the leaves, which are sour to the taste.

Embelia ribes Burm. f.

Tropical Asia. In Silhet, the berries are collected and used to adulterate black pepper.

Emilia sonchifolia DC.

Compositae.

Asia and tropical Africa. The leaves are eaten raw in salads in China. Its leaves are eaten raw in salads, according to Murray. In France, it is grown in flower gardens.

Empetrum nigrum Linn.

Empestraceae. CRAKEBERRY. CROWBERRY. MONOX.

Arctic and subarctic climates. The berries are eaten by the Scotch and Russian peasantry. The fruits are black, about the size of juniper berries, of a firm, fleshy substance and are insipid in taste. They are consumed in a ripe or dry state by the Indians of the Northwest, are eaten by the Tuski of Alaska and are gathered in autumn by the western Eskimo and frozen, for winter food.

Encephalartos caffer Miq.

Cycadaceae. HOTTENTOT BREAD-FRUIT. KAFFIR BREAD.

South Africa. The interior of the trunk and the center of the ripe female cones contain a spongy, farinaceous pith, made use of by the Kaffirs as food. On the female cone, seeds as large as unshelled Jordan almonds are contained between the scales, and are surrounded with a reddish pulp, which is good to eat. Barrow says it is used by the Kaffirs as food. The stem, when stripped of its leaves, resembles a large pineapple. The Kaffirs bury it for some months in the ground, then pound it, and extract a quantity of farinaceous matter of the nature of sago. This sago is a favorite food with the natives and is not unacceptable to the Dutch settlers when better food cannot be had.

Enhalus koenigii Rich.

Hydrocharitaceae. SEA FRUIT.

Sumatra. The fruits are called berak laut, or sea fruit. The seeds are slightly farinaceous and taste like chestnuts soaked in salt water. This fruit is round, hairy and generally much covered with mud.

Entada scandens Benth.

Leguminosae. SWORD BEAN.

Tropical shores from India to the Polynesian Islands. The seeds are flat and brown and are eaten cooked like chestnuts in Sumatra and Java, and the pods furnish food in the West Indies. In Jamaica, Lunan says the beans, after being long soaked in water, are boiled and eaten by some negroes.

Entada wahlbergia Harv.

South Africa. In central Africa, the bitter roots are eaten.

Enteromorpha compressa (Linn.) Grev.

Algae.

This is one of the edible seaweeds of Japan.

Enydra paludosa DC.

Compositae.

East Indies, Malay and Australia. The leaves of this water plant are eaten by the natives as a vegetable. It is the kingeka of Bengal.

Ephedra distachya Linn.

Gnetaceae. SEA GRAPE.

China and south Russia. The fruit is eaten by the Russian peasants and by the wandering hordes of Great Tartary. The fruit is eaten by the Chinese and is mucilaginous, with a slightly acid or pungent flavor. The fruit is ovoid, succulent, sweet, pale or bright red when ripe. It is eaten in some places, as on the Sutlej.

Epilobium angustifolium Linn.

Onagraceae. FIREWEED. WILLOW-HERB.

Northern climates. In England, says Johnson, the leaves are much used for the adulteration of tea. The leaves form a wholesome vegetable when boiled, and the young shoots make a good substitute for asparagus. The people of Kamchatka, says Lightfoot, eat the young shoots which creep under the ground and they brew a sort of ale from the dried pith. Richardson says the young leaves, under the name of l'herbe fret, are used by the Canadian voyagers as a potherb.

Epilobium latifolium Linn.

Northern and arctic regions. This species furnishes a vegetable of poor quality for northern Asia and Iceland.

Epilobium tetragonum Linn.

SQUARE-STEMMED WILLOW-HERB.

Europe. This plant is used as a vegetable in Iceland and northern Asia.