Changes

''Sapindaceae''. CALIFORNIA HORSECHESTNUT.

A low-spreading tree of the Pacific Coast of the United States. Thechestnuts are made into a gruel or soup by the western Indians. TheIndians of California pulverize the nut, extract the bitterness bywashing with water and form the residue into a cake to be used as food.

== ''Aesculus hippocastanum'' Linn. ==HORSE-CHESTNUT.

Turkey. The common horse-chestnut is cultivated for ornament butnever for the purpose of a food supply. It is now known to be a native ofGreece or the Balkan Mountains. Pickering says it was made known in1557; Brandis, that it was cultivated in Vienna in 1576; and Emerson,that it was introduced into the gardens of France in 1615 fromConstantinople. John Robinson says that it was known in Englandabout 1580. It was introduced to northeast America, says Pickering, byEuropean colonists. The seeds are bitter and in their ordinary conditioninedible but have been used, says Balfour, as a substitute for coffee.

Himalayas. A lofty tree of the Himalaya Mountains called kunour orpangla. In times of scarcity, the seeds are used as food, ground andmixed with flour after steeping in water.

BUCKEYE.

Southern states of America. The fruit, according to Browne, may be eaten boiled or roasted as a chestnut.

== ''Afzelia africana'' Sm. ==''Leguminosae''. African tropics. A portion of the seed is edible.

MAKOLA.

Upper Nile. The young purple-tinted leaves are eaten as a spinach.

''Vacciniaceae''.

East Indies. The leaves are used as a substitute for tea by the natives ofSikkim.

''Amaryllideae''. AMERICAN ALOE. CENTURY PLANT. MAGUEY.

Tropical America. The first mention of the agave is by Peter Martyr,contemporary with Columbus, who, speaking of what is probably nowYucatan, says: " They say the fyrst inhabitants lyved contented with theroots of Dates and magueans, which is an herbe much lyke unto thatwhich is commonly called sengrem or orpin." The species of agave,called by the natives maguey, grows luxuriantly over the table-lands ofMexico and the neighboring borders and are so useful to the peoplethat Prescott calls the plant the " miracle of nature." From the leaves, apaper resembling the ancient papyrus was manufactured by theAztecs; the tough fibres of the leaf afforded thread of which coarse stuffsand strong cords were made; the leaf, when washed and dried, isemployed by the Indians for smoking like tobacco but being sweet andgummy chokes the pipe; an extract of the leaves is made into ballswhich lather with water like soap; the thorns on the leaf serve for pinsand needles; the dried flower-stems constitute a thatch impervious towater; about Quito, the flower-stem is sweet, subacid, readily fermentsand forms a wine called pulque of which immense quantities areconsumed now as in more ancient times; from this pulque is distilled anardent, not disagreeable but singularly deleterious spirit known as vinomescal. The crown of the flower-stem, charred to blackness andmingled with water, forms a black paint which is used by the Apachesto paint their faces; a fine spirit is prepared from the roasted heart bythe Papajos and Apaches; the bulbs, or central portion, partly in andpartly above the ground are rich in saccharine matter and are the sizeof a cabbage or sometimes a bushel basket and when roasted are sweetand are used by the Indians as food. Hodge, writing of Arizona,pronounces the bulbs delicious. Bartlett5 mentions their use by theApaches, the Pimas, the Coco Maricopas and the Dieguenos Tubis.

The agave was in cultivation in the gardens of Italy in 1586 and Clusiussaw it in Spain a little after this time. It is now to be found generally intropical countries. The variety which furnishes sisal hemp wasintroduced into Florida in 1838 and in 1855 there was a plantation of50 acres at Key West.

Arizona. The central bud at certain seasons is roasted and eaten by theIndians and a spirit is also distilled from it.

MESCAL.

New Mexico and northern Arizona. This plant constitutes one of thestaple foods of the Apaches. When properly prepared, it is saccharine,palatable and wholesome, mildly acid, laxative and antiscorbutic.

UTAH ALOE.

Utah and Arizona. The bulb of the root is considered a great delicacy bythe Indians, who roast and prepare it for food which is said to be sweetand delicious.

Mexico. The young stems when they shoot out in the spring are tenderand sweet and are eaten with great relish by the Mexicans and Indians.

== ''Aglaia edulis'' A. Gray. ==''Meliaceae''. Fiji Islands and the East Indies. The natives eat the aril whichsurrounds the seed and call it gumi. The fruit is edible, having awatery, cooling, pleasant pulp. The aril is large, succulent and edible.

China. Firminger says this plant never fruits in Bengal. The flowers arebright yellow, of the size and form of a pin head and are delightfullyfragrant. Fortune says it is the lan-hwa u yu-chu-lan of China and thatthe flowers are used for scenting tea. Smith says it is the san-yeh-lan ofChina, that the flowers are used for scenting tea and that the tenderleaves are eaten as a vegetable.

''Rosaceae''. AGRIMONY. COCKLEBUR. LIVERWORT. STICKLEWORT.  North temperate regions. The dried leaves are used by country people as a sort of tea but probably only for medicinal qualities.

North temperate regions== ''Agriophyllum gobicum'' Bunge. The dried leaves are used by country peopleas a sort of tea but probably only for medicinal qualities== ''Chenopodiaceae''.

== ''Agriophyllum gobicum'' BungeSiberia. ==''Chenopodiaceae''The seeds are used as food.

Siberia== ''Agropyron repens'' Beauv. The seeds are used as food== ''Gramineae''. QUACK GRASS.

== ''Agropyron repens'' BeauvTemperate regions. ==''Gramineae''. QUACK GRASSThis is a troublesome weed in many situations yet Withering states that bread has been made from its roots in times of want.