Pachira-Pandanus (Sturtevant, 1919)

← Oxycoccus-Oxystelma

Sturtevant, Notes on edible plants, 1919 Pachira-Pandanus (Sturtevant, 1919)

Pangium-Parietaria →

Pachira aquatica Aubl.

Malvaceae. MALABAR CHESTNUT.

Tropical America. The mealy seeds of this tree, when roasted, taste like chestnuts. The young leaves and flowers are used as a vegetable. There is nothing better than this chestnut cooked with a little salt.

Pachira grandiflora Tussac.

West Indies. The seeds are eaten as chestnuts are.

Pachira insignis Savign.

Mexico and Guiana. The seeds, young leaves and flowers serve as food.

Pachyrhizus angulatus Rich.

Leguminosae.

Tropical Asia, Central America, the East and West Indies, Mauritius and Fiji Islands. The root, a single turnip-formed tuber, when young, is eaten, both raw and boiled, by the inhabitants of India and the Mauritius. Its coarse roots furnish food to the poor in China, when boiled, or when dried, and pounded into a flour. In the Malay Archipelago, the plant produces a large, edible, tuberous root. The Fiji Islanders, who call the plant yaka or wayaka, obtain a tough fiber from the stems, with which they make fishing nets. In China and Cochin China, where it is cultivated, the tubers, which are cylindrical and about two feet long, are eaten boiled as yams are, Smith says the tubers are eaten but are deleterious if not thoroughly cooked. A kind of arrowroot is made from the root in some places. The roots are eaten in Viti. Seemann says they are of a dirty white color when cooked and have a slightly starchy, insipid flavor.

Pachyrhizus tuberosus Spreng.

POTATO BEAN.

West Indies. The plant has large, tuberous roots, which, as well as the seeds, serve as food. It is called yalai by the people of New Caledonia, and the roots are roasted and eaten.

Paederia foetida Linn.

Rubiaceae.

East Indies, Malay and Hindustan. This is a long, cylindrical plant, which gives off a most offensive odor when bruised. The leaves, boiled and made into soup, are considered wholesome and suitable for the sick and convalescent, as Dutt writes.

Paeonia albiflora Pall.

Ranunculaceae. PAEONY.

Northern Asia. This species is to be seen in ornamental gardens. The roots are used as food in Mongolia, being boiled and eaten by the Tartars, who also powder the seeds to mix with their tea.

Panax fruticosum Linn.

Araliaceae. PANAX.

Tropical Asia, Malay and Polynesia. This aromatic plant is much cultivated in the Island of Ternate by the natives for food and for medicine. The boiled leaves are eaten as greens.

Pancratium maritimum Linn.

Amaryllidaceae. SEA DAFFODIL.

Europe. This plant is said to have properties resembling those of the squill. The bulbs were shown among food specimens at the International Exhibition of 1862.

Pandanus leram Jones.

Pandanaceae.

Nicobar Islands. In the Nicobar Islands, the immense fruit cones consist of several single, wedge-shaped fruits, which, when raw, are uneatable, but, boiled in water and subjected to pressure, they give out a sort of mealy mass. This is the melori of the Portuguese and the larohm of the natives. It is also occasionally used with the fleshy interior of the ripe fruit and forms the daily bread of the islanders. The flavor of the mass thus prepared strongly resembles that of apple marmalade and is by no means unpalatable to Europeans.

Pandanus odoratissimus Linn. f.

BREADFRUIT. PANDANG. SCREW PINE.

The terminal bud is eaten under the name of cabbage; the tender white base of the leaves is also eaten raw or boiled, during famines. Kotzebur says it constitutes the chief food of the people of Radack. It is chewed raw for the aromatic juice and is also baked in pits.

Pandanus pedunculatus R. Br.

BREADFRUIT. SCREW PINE.

Australia and New Holland. Fraser says this plant is called breadfruit and is eagerly eaten by the natives.

Pandanus sp.?

SCREW PINE.

Under the name of kapupu, a staple article of food is prepared in the. islands of the Gilbert group from the soft, central portion of the fruit heads of species of pandanus. Adams says, among the Meia-co-shimah Islands, he first had the curiosity to taste the fruit of the screw pine and found it refreshing and juicy but very insipid. When perfectly mature, he continues, they certainly look very tempting and resemble large, rich-colored pineapples. The stones, though very hard, contain a pleasant kernel.