Edible Plant Species

Stachys affinis Fresen. Labiatae. CHINESE ARTICHOKE. KNOT ROOT.
Egypt and Arabia.
This plant was introduced into cultivation by Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie. in 1886. The roots are thick and fleshy and are useful for pickles and may be used fried. According to Bretschneider, the roots were eaten as a vegetable in China in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries and are described as a cultivated vegetable by Chinese writings of 1640 and 1742. The species is a cultivated vegetable in Japan and is called choro-gi, and is esteemed.

S. heraclea All.
Southern Europe.
Archer says the leaves and stems, shown at the International Exhibition of 1862 as a tea substitute, are used by the modern Greeks and are believed to be the sideritis of the ancients.

S. palustris Linn. ALL-HEAL. WOUNDWORT.
Northern climates.
Lightfoot says the roots have been eaten in times of necessity, either boiled or dried and made into bread. Henfrey says the fleshy, subterranean rhizomes are sometimes collected as a table vegetable. Loudon says these, when grown on rich moist soil, are white, crisp and agreeable to the taste. Johnson says the young shoots, though of agreeable taste, are of disagreeable smell but may be eaten as asparagus.

Stachytarpheta indica Vahl. Verbenaceae.
Austria.
The leaves are sold as Brazilian tea, which Lindley says is a rather poor article.

Staphylea pinnata Linn. Sapindaceae (Staphylaceae). EUROPEAN BLADDER NUT.
Europe; cultivated in shrubberies.
Haller says the kernels of the fruit taste like those of pistachios and are eaten in Germany by children.

S. trifolia Linn. AMERICAN BLADDER NUT.
Eastern North America.
The seeds contain a sweet oil; they are sometimes eaten like pistachios.

Stauntonia hexaphylla Decne. Berberideae (Lardizabalaceae).
Japan.
The Japanese eat its roundish, watery berries and use their juice as a remedy for opthalmia.

Stellaria media Cyrill. Caryophylleae. CHICKWEED. STARWORT. STITCHWORT.
Temperate regions.
This plant is found in every garden as a weed. It forms when boiled, says Johnson, an excellent green vegetable, much resembling spinach in flavor and is very wholesome.

Stemona tuberosa Lour. Roxburghiaceae (Stemonaceae).
Tropical Asia.
The thick, tuberous roots, after a previous preparation with lime-water, are candied with sugar in India and are taken with tea but are said to be insipid.

Sterculia alata Roxb. Sterculiaceae. BUDDHA'S COCOANUT.
East Indies.
The winged seeds of its large fruit are eaten.

S. balanghas Linn.
Tropical eastern Asia.
The seeds, when roasted, are nearly as palatable as chestnuts. Rumphius says the seeds are considered esculent by the inhabitants of Amboina, who roast them. Unger says the nuts are eaten by the natives of the South Sea Islands generally.

S. carthaginensis Cav.
Tropical America.
The seeds are called chica by the Brazilians and panama by the Panamanians and are commonly eaten by the inhabitants as nuts.

S. chicha A. St. Hil. CHICA.
Brazil.
The inhabitants of Goyaz eat the almonds, which are of an agreeable taste.

S. diversifolia G. Don. BOTTLE TREE.
A tree of tropical Australia.
The seeds are eaten and the taproots are used, when young, as an article of food by the natives.

S. foetida Linn.
Old World tropics.
Rheede says its fruit is edible. Graham says, at Bombay, the seeds are roasted and eaten like chestnuts. Mason says, in Burma, its seeds are eaten like filberts. Blanco says its seeds are eaten in the Philippines.

S. guttata Roxb.
Tropical India.
The seeds are eaten by the natives of Bombay.

S. rupestris Benth. BOTTLE TREE.
Northeastern Australia.
The trunk of this tree bulges out in the form of a barrel. The stem abounds in a mucilaginous or resinous substance resembling gum tragacanth, which is wholesome and nutritious and is said to be used as an article of food by the aborigines in cases of extreme need.

S. scaphigera Wall.
Burma and Malay.
The seeds when macerated in water swell into a large, gelatinous mass. This jelly is valued by the Siamese and Chinese, who sweeten it and use it as a delicacy.

S. tomentosa Guill. & Perr.
Equatorial Africa.
The seeds are eaten in famines.

S. urens Roxb.
East Indies.
The seeds are roasted and eaten by Gonds and Kurkurs in Central India, according to Brandis. The plant yields a gum like gum tragacanth, and the seeds, according to Drury,1are roasted and eaten and also made into a kind of coffee.

Stereospermum zylocarpum Benth. & Hook. f. Bignoniaceae.
East Indies.
Its tender pods are eaten.

Sticta pulmonaria (Linn.) Schaer. Lichenes. LUNG LICHEN. LUNGWORT.
Northern climates.
This lichen, found growing on the ground in woods, is used as a substitute for Iceland moss.

Stilbocarpa polaris A. Gray. Araliaceae.
New Zealand.
This is an herbaceous plant with long roots, which are saccharine and have served ship-wrecked people for a lengthened period as sustenance.

Strelitzia reginae Ait. Scitamineae (Strelitziaceae). BIRD OF PARADISE FLOWER.
South Africa.
The seeds are gathered and eaten by the Kaffirs.

Strychnos innocua Delile. Loganiaceae.
Nubia.
The pulp of the fruit is eaten by the natives of Egypt and Senegal.

S. nux-vomica Linn. NUX-VOMICA TREE. STRYCHNINE.
Tropical India and Burma.
Mason says in Burma the pulp of the fruit is a favorite repast with children.

S. potatorum Linn. f. CLEARING NUT. WATER-FILTER NUT.
East Indies.
The fruit, when very young, is made into a preserve and eaten. The pulp of the fruit is edible and the ripe seeds are dried and sold in the bazaars to clear muddy water.

S. pseudo-quina A. St. Hil. COPALCHI.
Brazil.
The pulpy portion of the fruit is eaten by the natives.

S. spinosa Lam.
Madagascar.
The fruit, according to Flacourt, is as large as a quince, with a gourd-like shell full of large, flat seeds; the juice and watery pulp are agreeable when ripe. The pulp of the fruit is commonly eaten by the natives wherever it grows; it is somewhat acid and is said to be delicious.

S. tieute Lesch.
Java.
The bark of its root yields one of the most dangerous poisons known, called tshettik or tjettik or upas radja The pulp of the fruit is said to be edible.

Styrax benzoin Dryand. Styracaceae. BENZOIN. STORAX.
Malay.
This plant furnishes gum benzoin, used for flavoring by chocolate manufacturers. That from Siam is preferred.