Edible Plant Species

Psammisia bicolor Klotzsch. Vacciniaceae (Ericaceae).
Of the cold zone of the Peruvian Andes.
A high, evergreen bush with red berries of the size of a hazelnut.

Pseudospondias microcarpa Engl. Anacardiaceae.
Guinea.
The small, black fruit is edible.

Psidium acutangulum DC. Myrtaceae.
A tree of the higher regions on the Amazon River.
Its fruit is pale yellow and of apple size.

P. araca Raddi. GUAVA.
West Indies and Guiana to Peru and southern Brazil.
The greenishyellow fruit is of excellent taste. The berry is the size of a nutmeg.

P. arboreum Veil. GUAVA.
Brazil.
This guava measures about an inch and is of excellent flavor.

P. cattleianum Sabine PURPLE GUAVA.
Probably a native of Brazil, though originally brought to Europe from China.
The fruits are large, spherical, of a fine, deep claret color, with a soft, fleshy pulp, purplish-red next the skin but white at the center and of a very agreeable, acid-sweet flavor.

P. chrysophyllum F. Muell.
South Brazil.
The fruit is generally not larger than a cherry.

P. cinereum Mart.
Brazil.
The fruit is edible.

P. cuneatum Cambess.
Brazil.
The fruit is greenish and of the size of a Mirabelle plum.

P. grandifolium Mart.
Brazil.
The fruit is the size of a walnut.

P. guajava Linn. APPLE GUAVA. YELLOW GUAVA.
Tropical America.
There are two varieties which are by some classed as species: P. pomiferum Linn., the apple-shaped, and P. pyriforme Griseb. or pyriferum Linn., the pear-shaped. This species is very largely cultivated in the vicinity of Campos, Brazil. The fruit is made into a sweetmeat and is exported in great quantities. In the Quito region, says Henera, there are guayabos that produce fruit like apples, with many kernels, some white and some red, well tasted and wholesome. The fruit is globular, varying from the size of a plum to that of an apple and resembles an orange. The taste is rather bitter but the fruit makes an excellent preserve. The cultivation of the guava has been carried on from time immemorial, as is shown by the fruit frequently being seedless. The guava reached the East Indies through the agency of the Portuguese and Spaniards. It has but recently reached China and the Philippines, the west coast of Africa and the Island of Mauritius. Voight says, in India, its fruit is of a delicious flavor. Firminger states that those he has gathered have been nothing better than a hard, uneatable berry. The guava is cultivated in the West Indies, in Florida and elsewhere, and the fruits are occasionally seedless. The fruit is smooth, crowned with the calyx, not unlike in shape and size to a pomegranate, having an agreeable smell and turning yellow when ripe. The rind is about an eighth of an inch in thickness, brittle and fleshy and contains a firm pulp of white, red or yellow color in the different varieties and is of an agreeable taste. It is full of bony seeds. The fruit is esteemed raw and also in preserves.

P. incanescens Mart.
Brazil.
The berry is edible.

P. indicum Raddi.
Brazil.
The species is cultivated for its fruit.

P. montanum Sw. SPICE GUAVA.
A large tree of West Indies.
The fruit is eatable, green in color and soft when ripe. It has a very pleasing smell, like that of strawberries, which the pulp also resembles in taste, leaving its rich flavor on the palate for some time after eating. This fruit makes excellent marmalade. The fruit is edible.

P. pigmeum Arruda.
A shrub of Brazil.
The fruit is about the size of a gooseberry and is greatly sought after on account of its delicious flavor which resembles that of the strawberry. It is the marangaba of the Brazilians.

P. polycarpon Lamb.
Tropical America.
The berries are yellow, the size of a cherry and of exquisite taste. The fruit is yellow inside, the size of a plum and of a delicate taste.

P. rufum Mart.
Brazil.
The plant produces a palatable fruit.

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus DC. Leguminosae. GOA BEAN.
This plant is grown in India for the sake of its edible seeds and also for use as a string bean. The pod is six to eight inches long, half an inch wide, with a leafy kind of fringe running along the length of its four corners. The pod is cooked whole and, says Firminger, is a vegetable of little value. Wight calls it a passable vegetable. In the Mauritius, the plant is called po'is carres and is cultivated for the seeds. In Burma and the Philippines, the pods are eaten. Pickering says it is a native of equatorial Africa and says "the kidney beans of the finest quality," observed by Cada Mosto in Senegal in 1455, belong here.

Psoralea califomica S. Wats. Leguminosae.
California.
The tuberous roots are eaten by the Piutes.

P. canescens Michx.
Southern states of North America.
This plant has esculent roots.

P. castorea S. Wats.
Colorado to California.
The roots afford food to the Piute Indians.

P. esculenta Pursh. BREAD ROOT. INDIAN TURNIP. POMME BLANCHE. PRAIRIE POTATO.
Upper Missouri and Rocky Mountain region.
This root is a special luxury to the Indians of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Sioux use it very extensively. It is eaten roasted while fresh or carefully dried and stored for winter use. The stringy, dry and tough roots are eaten by the Cree Indians of the northwest, either raw or roasted.

P. glandulosa Linn. JESUIT TEA.
Chile.
The roots are dried and smoked. The plant has been introduced into the Mauritius where the leaves are used as a tea substitute. In Chile, it is called culen.

P. hypogaea Nutt.
North America.
The tubers are edible.

P. subacaulis Torr. & Gray.
Tennessee.
The plant has edible roots.