Shepherdia-Sison (Sturtevant, 1919)

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Sturtevant, Notes on edible plants, 1919 Shepherdia-Sison (Sturtevant, 1919)

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Shepherdia argentea Nutt.

Elaeagnaceae. BUFFALO BERRY.

Western plains of the United States. This plant is somewhat cultivated for ornament. Catlin speaks of it in its native region as producing its fruit in incredible quantities, hanging in clusters to every limb and to every twig, about the size of ordinary currants and not unlike them in color and even in flavor, being exceedingly acid and almost unpalatable until they are bitten by the frosts of autumn, when they are sweetened and their flavor becomes delicious. They are dried by the Indians as winter food.

Shepherdia canadensis Nutt.

Vermont and Wisconsin northward to beyond the Arctic circle and very common on the Mackenzie. Its small, red, juicy, very bitter and slightly acid berry is useful; says Richardson, for making an extempore beer, which ferments in twenty-four hours and is an agreeable beverage in hot weather. Gray calls the fruit insipid.

Sicana odorifera Naud.

Cucurbitaceae. COROA. CURUA.

Brazil. The odor of the fruit is agreeable. The taste is sweet and at first not unpleasant but it soon nauseates. Notwithstanding this, there are some persons, says Correa de Mello, but not many, who eat it.

Sicyomorpha sp.

Celastraceae.

A genus of plants from Peru. The fruit is said to be edible and is similar in form to a cucumber.

Sicyos angulata Linn.

Cucurbitaceae. BUR CUCUMBER.

Eastern United States. In New Zealand, this plant is boiled for greens. In France, it is an inmate of the flower garden.

Sideroxylon australe Benth. & Hook. f.

Sapotaceae.

Australia. The plants yield a tolerably good fruit.

Sideroxylon dulcificum A. DC.

MIRACULOUS BERRY.

Tropical Africa. The fruit is eaten by the English residents of western Africa to counteract acidity of any article of food or drink, the sweet flavor being retained by the palate for a considerable time.

Sideroxylon tomentosum Roxb.

East Indies. The fruit is about the size of a crab and not unlike one, agreeing moreover with the sour, austere taste of that fruit. It is made into pickles, and the natives cook and eat it in their curries.

Silaum flavescens Bernh.

Umbelliferae. MEADOW SAXIFRAGE. PEPPER SAXIFRAGE.

Middle Europe. This species is mentioned by Pliny. It is cooked as an acid potherb.

Silene cucubalus Wibel.

Caryophylleae. BLADDER CAMPION.

Europe, north Africa, Himalayan region and naturalized in America. Johnson says the young shoots resemble green peas in taste and make a very good vegetable for the table when boiled. In 1685, the crops in Minorca having besn nearly destroyed by locusts, this plant afforded support to many of the inhabitants. Pickering says it is used throughout the Levant, the leaves being cooked and eaten.

Siler trilobum Crantz.

Umbelliferae.

Orient, middle and south Europe. The stems are edible and the fruit serves as a condiment. This plant is called on the lower Volga gladich. This is the baltracan described by Barbaro as having the smell of rather musty oranges, its stem single, hollow, thicker than one's finger and more than a "braccio" high; leaf like rape; seed like fennel but larger, pungent, but pleasant to taste and when in season, if broken as far as the soft part, can be eaten without salt. The water in which the leaves are boiled is drunk as wine and is very refreshing.

Silphium laeve Hook.

Compositae. ROSIN-WEED.

North America. The tuberous roots are eaten by the Indians along the Columbia River.

Silybum marianum Gaertn.

Compositae. HOLY THISTLE. MILK THISTLE.

Europe. This plant was formerly cultivated in gardens in England but has now fallen into disuse. The young leaves were once used in spring salads or boiled as a substitute for spinach. The young stalks, peeled and soaked in water to extract the bitterness, were cooked and eaten much in the manner of sea kale. The roots, when two years old, were used much in the way of salsify, which they resemble, and the receptacle of the flowers was cooked and eaten as an artichoke. Bryant, in his Flora Dietica, says the young shoots in the spring surpass the finest cabbage when boiled as a vegetable. Johnson says the roots were sometimes baked in pies. Lightfoot says, in Scotland, the tender leaves are by some boiled and eaten as garden stuff.

Simmondsia californica Nutt.

Euphorbiaceae.

Southern California. The ripe fruit is the size of a hazelnut and has a thin, smooth, three-valved husk, which, separating spontaneously, discloses a brown, triangular kernel. This fruit, though edible, can hardly be termed palatable. Its taste is somewhat intermediate between that of the filbert and acorn. It is employed by the Indians as an article of diet and is called by them jojoba.

Sison amomum Linn.

Umbelliferae. HONEWORT. STONE PARSLEY.

Europe and Asia Minor. Lindley says the seeds are pungent and aromatic but have a nauseous smell when fresh. Mueller says they can be used for a condiment.