This section contains a long list of Native American names, by tribe, for beans, in addition to the names for various beans in cultures and countries around the world.
I am also beginning to notice that many, many greens come from India.
(Continued from page 133.)
View original installment with footnotes at https://archive.org/details/jstor-2451090
Australian Spinage. Chenopodium auricomum Lind.
It does not appear in any way superior to the Garden Orach, except, perhaps, for warm climates. (To which I thought, "Garden Orach, what's that!???".)
It is mentioned as under culture in England in 1867, but it has apparently not yet become common or general.
Orach is another of the Chenopodium genus, Atroplex hortensis. Here is a nice garden blog with photos....
Quinoa is another one I like. Lamb's Quarters is one I am familiar with as a potherb although I haven't tried it.
I have never heard of Australian Spinach or Garden Orach! Then again, I have never had a vegetable garden before so I haven't paid attention :-) Garden Orach sounds pretty good and it is very pretty if you look at some of the 21st century seed offerings.
Balm. Melissa officinalis L. This aromatic perennial, a native of the Mediterranean countries, has long been an inmate of gardens for the sake of its herbage, which finds use in seasonings and in the compounding of liqueurs and perfumes, as well as the domestic remedy known as balm tea.
The culture was common with the ancients, as Pliny directs it to be planted, and as a bee plant or otherwise it finds mention in the Greek and Latin poets and the prose writers. It is mentioned in France by Ruellius in 1536; in England by Gerarde, 1597, who gives a most excellent figure, and also by Lyte in 1586,and Ray in 1686.
Mawe, in 1758, says great quantities are cultivated about London for supplying the markets. In the United States it is included among garden vegetables by McMahon in 1806. As an escape the plant is found in England, and sparingly in the Eastern United States. Bertero found it wild on the island of Juan Fernandez. But one variety is known in our gardens, although the plant is described as being quite variable in nature. This would indicate that cultivation had not produced great changes.
The only difference I have ever noted in the cultivated plant has been in regard to vigor. A variegated variety is recorded by Mawe in 1778 for the ornamental garden, and is yet to be found.
It has been found since Sturtevant's day!
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| Blackwell, E., A curious herbal, vol. 1: t. 27 (1737) |
- English, bawme, Lyte, 1586, baulm, balm, Blackwell, 1750;
- Danish, hjertensfryd, Vil., 1883 ;
- French, melissa, Ruel., 1536, melisse, Dod., 1616, melisse citronnelle, Vil., 1883;
- German, Melissenkraut,
- Mutterkraut, Lyte, 1586, Citronem-Melisse, Vil., 1883;
- Greek, melissovotanon, melissvhorton, Sibth. ;
- Holland, consilie de greyn, melisse, Lyte, 1586, citroen-melisse , Vil., 1883;
- Italy, cedronella, herba rosa, Lyte, 1586, melissa, Dod., 1616, Vil., 1883 ;
- Spain, torongil, yerva eidrera, Lyte, 1586, torongil, citronella, Vil., 1883.
Here is another plant that sounds worth growing that I never knew about.
I am beginning to feel deprived.
Isn't this a great engraving?? The leaves look "meaty".
It was introduced to Europe in 1688, and was grown in England in 1691, but these references can hardly apply to the vegetable garden. It is, however, recorded in, French gardens in 1824 and 1829. The vernacular names in Europe are:
- English, White Malabar Nightshade ;
- Flanders, Meier ;
- France, Baselle blanche, Epinard blanc de Amerique, Epinard blanc de Malabar ;
- Germany, Indischer gruner Spinat, Malabar Spinat ;
- Italy, Basella;
- Spain, Basela.
In the Mauritius, gandolle blanc;
in the Indian languages,
- Bengali, sufed-pooin ;
- in Telinga, allu-batsalla ;
- in Hindustani,
- poi;
- in Burmah, gyen baing etc.
Basella cordifolia Lam. (B. lucida Lam.)
This species is cultivated in all parts of India, and is the Calalue of Barbadoes. It was imported from China to France in 1 83<p, s an d i s now known under the name of Baselle de Chine a tres larges feuilles. Its greater expanse of leaves makes it more desirable as a spinage plant than the other species.
The vernacular names in India are:
- Bengali, pooinshak ;
- Telinga, pedda-batsella ;
- Hindustani, pooi.
Basella nigra Lam.
This species is found in Cochin China and China, both wild and uncultivated, 7 and Livingston says the leaves are much esteemed when boiled. It is very likely but a variety of the other species.
Basella rubra L.
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| Descourtilz, M.E., Flore médicale des Antilles -1829) |
This Indian species is cultivated as a spinage plant in many places. In 1638, according to the " Hortus Malabaricus," seed was sent from Ceylon to the botanic garden at Amsterdam, and Ray, in 1704, describes it as cultivated in gardens. No mention of it in kitchen gardens, however, occurs before the present century.
It is mentioned in French works on gardening in 1824, 1826, and 1829," and in the Mauritius in 1827. Bretschneider has found mention of it as a cultivated vegetable in Chinese authors of the sixteenth century, 1640, and 1742. Kaempfer describes it as a Japanese plant, and Rumphius as of Amboina.
The European names are : - Red Malabar Nightshade in English
- in France, Baselle rouge, Epinard rouge d'Amerique, Epinard rouge de Malabar ;
- in Germany, Rother Malabar- spinat.
The extra European names I find are :
- in Japan, murasakki ;
- Mauritius, bredes gandolle ou d'Angole ;
- in India, poee sag;
- in Sanscrit, pootika ;
- in Bengali, racta-bun-pooi ;
- in Telinga, yerra-batsalla ;
- in Ceylon, rat-niwiti
At the present time Vilmorin describes ten kinds as serviceable for the kitchen garden. In 1612, " Le Jardinier Solitaire" devotes a section to directions for culture, and Quintyne, in 1693, grew basil among hot-bed plants. According to Miss Bird, the seeds are eaten in Japan. (Miss Bird's book is a good read if you are into that sort of travel...)
(Pardon this digression. The above book is a joy to look at. Unfortunately for me, Google translate can't handle even the translation of the title...sigh. On the bright side, I do not know if it is just by chance or there has been a change in the policy for scans, but a wonderful number of books have been showing up as the original scan with the color and texture of the paper intact!! The pastedowns and endpapers are often there, and, ta-da!, the binding!! You can often clearly see the watermark in the paper. Just look at the blind stamped binding on this book. )
Ocimum basilicum L.
This species is a very variable one, and furnishes a number
of botanical varieties. It includes the large varieties of our gardens, in both the green- and purple-foliaged, the large-, medium-,
and narrow-leaved.
It is a native of tropical Asia, and is described for India by Drury, for Cochin China by Loureiro, for
Amboinia by Rumphius, for Malabar by Rheede (see below), etc.
It
was probably known to the ancients, but the commentators are
often in doubt as to the name. Fee thinks it the okimon of
Hippocrates, Theophrastus, and Dioscorides, the ocimum hortense
of Columella and Varro.
It reached England on or before 1548,
according to Mcintosh; certain it is, it is not mentioned by
Turner in his " Libellus," 1538, and is well known to Lyte in
1586.
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| Rheede tot Drakestein, H.A. van, Hortus Indicus Malabaricus, (1690) |
It occurs in all the American works on gardening, commencing with 1806.
In our synonymy we can include all the varieties named by
Vilmorin as in present culture, and all those mentioned in the
vernacular by less recent writers.
A careful examination seems to justify the following attempts :
- Ocimum mediocre. Fuch., 1542, 548.
- Basilica minor. Trag., 1552, 30.
- O.parvum. Matth., 1558, 268.
- O. medium vulgatius. Adv., 1570, 215 ; Lob. Obs., 1576, 268.
- O. secundum. Cam., Epit, 1586, 309.
- O. medium. Lugd., 1578, 680.
- O. medium citratum. Ger., 1597, 547.
- Basilicum medium. Hort. Eyst, 161 3, ^Est. ord., 7, fol. 9.
- O. vulgaris. Bauh., Pin., 1623, 226.
- O. basilicum I,. Sp., 2d ed., 833.
- Basilic grand vert and grand violet. Vil., 1883, 31.
- Sweet Basil and Purple Sweet Basil.
- Ocimum magnum. Fuch., 1542, 549.
- Basilica major. Trag., 1552, 31.
- O. max. caryophyllatum. Lob. Obs., 1576, 268; ic, 1591, i. 5°3-
- Ocimum. Cam., Epit, 1586, 308.
- O. maximum. Lugd., 1587, 679.
- O. garyophyllatum majus. Bauh., Phytopin., 1596, 425.
- ? O. basilicum, var. b. Lin., Sp., 2d ed., 833.
- Basilic afeuilles large. De C, Fl. Fran., 1815, iii. 570.
- Ocimum anisatum. Hort. Eyst., 161 3, ^Est. ord., 14, fol. 2.
- Basilic anise. Vil., 1883, 32.
- Ocimum latifolium crispum. Matth., 1598,408.
- O. crispum viride. Hort. Eyst, 161 3, ^Est. ord., 7, fol. 10.
- O. foliis fimbriatis viridis. Bauh., Pin., 1623, 225.
- O. Sancto mauritanum. J. Bauh., 165 1, iii. 249.;
- O. Basilicum L., v&r.f, Benth.
- Basilic frise. Vil., 1883, 32.
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| Bessler, Basilius, Hortus Eystettensis |
- Ocimum latifolium magnum. Hort. Eyst, 161 3, Est. ord., 7, fol. 10.
- O. viridefoliis bullatis. Bauh., Pin., 1623, 225.
- O. basilicum, var. d. Lin., Sp., 2d ed., 833.
- O. bullatum. Lam. ex De C, Fl. Fran., m, 570.
- Basilic afeuilles de laitue. Vil., 1883.
- in Denmark, basilikum;
- in Flanders, basilik ;
- in France, basilic grand, B. aux sauces, B. des cuisiniers, B. romain, her be royale ;
- in Germany, Basilicum, Basilien, Basilgram ;
- in Italy, basilico ;
- in Portugal, manjericao ;
- in Russia, wasilik ;
- in Spain, albaca, albahaca
Outside of Europe it is called,
- in Arabic, ryhan riban, habak ;
- in Sanscrit, manjirika ;
- in Bengali, barbooitulsee ;
- in Hindustani, kala-tulsee, pashana cheddu; (For what it is worth, Kala-tulsee Google translates to "Tomorrow Basil".)
- in Tamil, tirnoot-patchie ;
- in Telinga, vepoodipatsa ;
- in Persia, deban-shab, nazbro, ungooshtkuneezuckan, etc.
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| Jacquin, N.J. von, Icones plantarum rariorum(1786-1793) |
Ocimum gratissimum L.
According to Loureiro, it occurs in the kitchen gardens of Cochin China.
It was cultivated in England in 1752 by Mr. Miller.
Forskal gives as the Arabic name, hobokbok.
In French gardens this plant is called basilic en arbre. Vilmorin thinks, however, that the French form may be the 0. suave Willd., but of this he is not certain.
Ocimum minimum L.
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| Bonelli, Giorgio, Hortus Romanus juxta Systema Tournefortianum(1783-1816) |
It has been known in American gardens from the commencement of the present century (1800s) , and probably earlier.
The synonymy can be established as below :
- Ocimum exiguum. Fuch., 1542, 547.
- 0. minimum amaraci figura caryophyllata. Adv., 1570, 215;
- Lob. Obs., 1576, 269.
- 0. caryophyllatus. Lugd., 1587, 681.
- 0. minus garyophyllatum. Ger., 1597, 547.
- 0. garyophyllatum. Matth., 1598,407.
- Basilico minore. Cast. Durante, 1617, 64.
- 0. minimum. Bauh., Pin., 1623, 226; J. Bauh., 165 1, iii. 247;
- Ray, 1686, i. 541.
- 0. mimimum. L., Sp., 833.
- Bush basil. Lyte, 1586; Ger., 1597; Ray, 1686; Burr, 1863.
- Basilic fin, vert and violet. Vilm., 1883, 33.
- Ocimum min. caryophyllatum. Hort. Eyst, 161 3, ^Est. ord., 7, fol. IO.
- Basilic fin vert compact. Vil., Alb. de Clich., n. 43077.
- Compact Bush-basil. Vil., Veg. Gard., 1885, 19.
- is called in India Sqfed toolsee;
- in Italy, Basilico gentile, Basilico garosonato;
- in France, Basilic fin ;
- in Spain, Albaca menuda, A.fina
We certainly cannot find in basil an illustration of great modifications which have been produced by cultivation, nor can we suspect that there are any well-marked varieties of modern origination.
Bean. Phaseolis vulgaris L.
A partial list of such testimony I have given heretofore, and hence it need not be repeated.
The marvelous number of varieties known are indication of antiquity of culture, and when kept from crossing these varieties come true and perpetuate indefinitely characters which appear in the seed.
From seed apparently on type, however, through atavism, other varieties may appear, and to one unfamiliar with the types might be considered as sports, and as proof of the variable nature of the plant.
Commentators have quite generally considered this species as among the plants cultivated by the ancients, and De Candolle, who has given the subject much thought, thinks the best argument is in the use of the modern names derived from the Greek fasiolos and the Roman faseolus and phasiolus.
In 1542, Fuchsius used the German word Faselen for the bean; in 1550, Roszlin used the same word for the pea, as did also Tragus in 1552. Fuchsius gives also an alternative named welsch Bonen, and Roszlin welsch Bonen and welsch Phaselen for the bean, and the same word, welsch Bonen, for the bean is given by Tragus, 1552, and Kyber,? 1553.
This epithet, welsch or foreign, would seem to apply to a kind not heretofore known.
Albertus Magnus, who lived in the thirteenth century, used the word faselus as denoting a specific plant, as "faba et faseolus et pisa et alia genera leguminis," " cicer, faba,
faseolus." He also says, " Et sunt faseoli multorum colorum, sed quodlibet granorum habef maculam nigram in loco cotyledonis." (And there are faseoli of many colors, but each one of a black stain in the place where the grain has the cotyledon.)
Now the Dolichos unguiculatus L. is a plant which furnishes beans with a black eye,
as grown by me, and appears the same with many varieties of the "cow pea" of the
Southern States, and is stated by Vilmorin to be grown in Italy in many varieties.
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| 1770 - Jacquin, N.J. von, Hortus botanicus |
I have before me, as I write, two hundred and nineteen bottles of beans, each with a distinct name (many, however, synonymes), and not one of these beans has a black eye. I have before me the seed of Dolichos unguiculatus and twelve named varieties of the cow pea, and all have a circle of black about the white eye, also one variety of cow pea all black, with a white eye, and one red speckled form without the black.
It seems, therefore, reasonable to conclude that the faselus of Albertus Magnus was a
Dolichos.
In the list of vegetables Charlemagne ordained to be planted on his estates occurs the
word fasiolum, without explanation.
Passing now to the Roman writers, Columella speaks of the "longa fasellus," an epithet which well applies to the pods of the Dolichos ; he gives directions for field culture and not for garden culture, recommending the seeding to be four modii per jugerum, and he recommends planting in October. (Jugerum = 0.625 acres; modius = 1.92 gallons)Pliny says the pods are eaten with the seed, and the planting is in October and November. Palladius recommends the planting of faselus in September and October, in a fertile and well-tilled soil, four modii per jugerum. Virgil's s epithet, " vilemque phaselum," also indicates field culture, as to be cheap implies abundance. Among the Greek writers, Aetius, in the fourth century, says the Dolichos and the phaseolus of the ancients were now called by all lobos, and by some melax (smilax ?) kepea.
This word lobos of Aetius is recognizable in the Arabic lonbia applied to Dolichos lubia Forsk., a bean with low stalks, the seed ovoid, white, with a black point at the eye.
Galen says the lobos was called by some phasiolos. From these and other clues to be gleaned here and there from the Greek authors, I am disposed to think that the low bean of the ancients was a Dolichos, and that the word phaselus referred to this bean whenever used throughout the middle ages in speaking of a field crop. The Roman references to phaseolus all refer to a low-growing bean fitted for field culture, and so used. There is no clear indication to be found of garden culture. Aetius seems the first among the Greeks to refer to a garden sort, for he says the lobos are the only kind in which the pod is eaten with the bean, and Galen, De Aliment, c. xxviii. he says this lobos is called by some melax kepea (smilax hortensis), the dolichos and phaseolus of his predecessors. Galen's use of the word lobos, or the pod plant, would hence imply garden culture in Greece in the second century. The word loubion is applied by the modern Greeks to the Phaseolus vulgaris, as is also the word loba in Hindustani. The word lubia is applied by the Berbers, and in Spain the form alubia to the Phaseolus vulgaris. The words fagiuolo in Italian, phaseole in French, are used for the P. vulgaris.
It is so easy for a name used in a specific sense to remain while the forms change, as is illustrated by the word squash in America, that we may interpret these names to refer to the common form of their time, to a Dolichos (even now in some of its varieties called a bean) in ancient times and to a Phasiolus now. Theophrastus says the dolichos is a climber, and bears seeds, and is not a desirable vegetable.
I find no other mention of a climber in the ancient authors. The word dolichos seems to be used in a generic sense, Theophrastus says the his dolichos, the intensive s being used after the o ; but the dolichos of Galen is the faselus of the Latins, for he says that some friends of his had seen the dolichos (a name not then introduced at Rome) growing in fields about Caria, in Italy. We may hence be reasonably certain that the pole beans which were so common in the sixteenth century were not then cultivated. The English name kidney beans is derived evidently from the shape of the seed.
Turner, 1551, is the first use of this name I note ; but they were not generally grown in England until quite recent times.
Parkinson, in 1629, speaks of them as oftener on rich men's tables, and Worlidge, in 1683, says that within the memory of man they were a great rarity, although now a com- mon delicate food.
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c.1580-1590 - Annibale Carracci's The Bean Eater
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The French word haricot, applied to this plant, occurs in Quintyne, 1693, who calls them aricos in one place, and haricauts in another. The word does not occur in "Le Jardinier Solitaire," 1612, and Champlain, in 1605, uses the term febues du Bresil, indicating he knew no vernacular name of closer application. De Candolle says the word araco is Italian, and was originally used for Lathyrus ochrus. It is apparently thus used by Oribasius and Galen. The two species of Linnaeus, Phaseolus vulgaris and P. nana, correspond to the popular grouping into pole and dwarf beans. But there is this to be remarked, that Linnaeus synonymes for P. nana apply to a Dolichos, and not to a Phaseolus, for the descriptions of Phaseolus vulgaris italicus humilis s. minor, albus cum. orbita nigricante of Bauhin's history answer well to the cow pea, as also does C. Bauhin's Smilax silique sursum rigente s. Phaseolus parvus italicus, and do not apply to the bush bean. (so there!)
The figures given by Camerarius in 1586, by Matthiolus, 1598, and by Bauhin, 1651, are all cow peas, although the names given are those used for the true bean, thus indicating the same confusion between the species and the names which kept pace with the introduction of new varieties of the bean from America, for Pena and Lobel, in 1570, say that many sorts of fabas Pheseolosve were received from sailors coming from the New World. (See below)
(Perhaps learning Latin would be a good winter project...)
Phaseolus nana L.
The first figure I find of the bush bean is by Fuchsius, in 1542, and his drawing resembles very closely varieties that may be found to-day, — not the true bush, but slightly twining. In 1550, Roszlin figures a bush bean, as does Matthiolus in 1558, Pinaeus? in 1561, and Dalechamp in 1587. Matthiolus says the species is common in Italy, in gardens, and oftentimes in fields, the seed of various colors, as white, red, citron, and spotted. Dalechamp figures the white bean.
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Giovanna Garzoni, Plate with White Beans, ca. 1650-1662
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The dwarf bean is not mentioned by Dodonaeus in 1566 nor in 1616. A list of varieties cultivated in Jamaica is given, in 1837, by Macfadyen, which includes the one-colored black, yellow, red, etc.; the streaked, in which the seeds are marked with broad, linear curved spots; the variegated, the seeds marked with rubiginose, leaden, etc., more or less rounded spots ; and the saponaceous, with the back of the seeds white, the sides and concavity marked with spots so as to resemble a common soap-ball. Gerarde, 1597, does not mention this bean in England, but it is mentioned by Miller, in 1724, in varieties which can be identified with those grown at the present time, five in all.
In 1765, Stevenson names seven varieties; in 1778, Mawe names eleven. In 1883, Vilmorin 5 describes sixty-nine varieties and names others. Phaseolus vulgaris L. Pole beans are figured by Tragus in 1552, who speaks of them as having lately come into Germany from Italy, and he calls them welsch or foreign, and he enumerates the various colors, as red, purplish white, variegated, white, black, and yellowish. Dodonseus in 1566 and 16 16 figures the pole bean, as does Lobel in 1576 and 1591, Clusius in 1601, and Castor Durante 10 in 1617. In 1597, Gerarde" figures four varieties in England, the white, black, red, and yellow, and Barnaby Googe (see below) speaks of French beans in 1572, indicating by the name the source from which they came. In 1683, Worlidge names two sorts as grown in English gardens, and the same varieties are given by Mortimer in 1708. In France, in 1829, nineteen sorts are enumerated by Noisette, and in 1883, Vilmorin describes thirty-eight varieties and names others.
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| This is a later edition... |
- in England kidney bean, Turner, 1551, Vilm., 1883; French bean, Vil., 1883; sperage bean, Ger., 1597, Googe, 1572 ; faselles, long peas on, garden smilax, Romane beans, Lyte, 1586;
- in Denmark, havebonnen, Vilm., 1883;
- in Flanders, boon, Vilm., 1883;
- in France, febues, Cartier, ie, phasiolis, Pin., 1561, haricot, Quint, 1693, Vilm., 1883, phaseole, Vilm., 1883;
- in Germany, welsch Bonen, Fuch., 1542, Bohne, Vilm., 1883;
- in Greece, fasoulia, De C, 1883;
- in Holland, boon, Vilm., 1883;
- in Italy, fagiuolo, Pin., 1561, Vilm., 1883;
- in Spain (in Castile), arziejas luengas, (in Aragon) judias, Oviedo, 1546, faxones fexoes, frejoles, Navarette, about 1500,/araolos, Cam., 1586, habichuela,judia,frijol, Vilm., 1883 ;
- in Sweden, Turkiska boner, Tengborg, 1764.
- In India, in Hindustani, bakla,loba ;
- in Ceylon, dambala, Birdwood ;
- in Cochin China, dau tlang, tau, Lour.
In America,
- the Northern Algonquins, tuppuhquam-ash, — i.e., twiners, Elliott ;
- in Carib, calaouana, Breton's Diet. ;
- in Chahta, tobi, Gray;
- in Chippeway, miskodissimin, — i.e., red-dyed seed, Gray ;
- in Dakota, onmnicha, Gray ;
- in Delaware, malachxit, Zeisberger ;
- in Huron, ogaressa, Sagard ;
- in Kennebec Abnaki, a 'teba 'kive, Rasle ;
- in Mohawk, osaheta, Gray ;
- Mojave, se-van, Whipple ;
- in the Narragansett, monasquisset (singular), Cotton, manusqussed-ash (plural), R. Williams;
- in Onondaga, onsahita and hosahita, Shea ;
- in Pequod, mushquissedes, Stiles ;
- in Peru, purutu, de Vega ;
- on the St. Lawrence, sake, Cartier ;
- the Shawanoes of Ohio, m'skochi-tha, Gray;
- the Cheyenne, monisk or monehka, Hayden ;
- in Virgina, okindjier, Haricot, peccatoas, peketawes, Strachey ;
- in Yuma, white beans, marique, Whipple.
I'm throwing in this bean. It is another of the bean seed sites I found as I poked around .
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| (Phaseolus acutifolius) |
80 days. Tan and blue-grey spotted beans, unique flavor in traditional Southwestern dishes. Tepary beans were a premier crop in the native cultures of the Sonoran desert and surrounding regions. They are very drought- and heat-tolerant, and in much of the country they may be grown without irrigation. They are of a thin-stemmed sprawling bush to half-runner habit. The seeds are smaller than common beans, produced in staggering profusion in small pods yielding several seeds per pod....to be continued...
HISTORY OF GARDEN VEGETABLES.
BY E. LEWIS STURTEVANT, A.M., M.D.