Edible Plant Species

Oenanthe peucedanifolia Pollich. Umbelliferae. WILD PARSLEY.
Europe and adjoining Asia.
The roots have occasionally been eaten.

O. pimpinelloides Linn. MEADOW PARSLEY.
Mediterranean countries.
Its fleshy tubercles, according to Lindley, have Occasionally been eaten.

O. sarmentosa Presl.
Western North America.
The tubers form one of the dainty dishes of the Oregon Indians. They are black, but, when boiled like potatoes, they burst open lengthwise, showing a snowy-white, farinaceous substance, which has a sweet, cream-like taste with a slight parsley flavor.

O. stolonifera Wall.
East Indies, Java and China.
The plant is served as a green in Japan.

Oenocarpus bacaba Mart. Palmae. BACABA OIL PALM.
Guiana and the Amazon.
The fruit yields a colorless, sweet oil, used at Para for adulterating olive oil and excellent for cooking and for lamps. It is called bacaba.

O. bataua Mart. BATAVA PALM.
Brazil.
This is the patawa of the Amazon and yields a colorless, sweet oil, used for adulterating olive oil at Para and for cooking.

O. distichus Mart. BACABA WINE PALM.
Brazil.
Bates says this is one of the palms called bacaba. The fruit is much esteemed by the natives who manufacture a pleasant drink from it.

Oenothera biennis Linn. Onagraceae. EVENING PRIMROSE. GERMAN RAMPION.
Northeastern America.
This plant was formerly cultivated in English gardens for its edible roots, which, when boiled, are wholesome and nutritious. In Germany the roots are used as scorzonera and the young shoots in salads. The roots are sweet to the taste, somewhat resembling parsnips. The roots may be used as scorzonera, but the plant is cultivated in France only as a curiosity. It is said by Loudon to be cultivated in Germany, and, in Carniola, the roots are eaten in salad. It first reached Europe in 1614. It is given by Burr for American gardens in 1863, under the name German Rampion.