OK, hang on...I'm switching to presenting a hybrid of Sturtevant's History of Garden Vegetables AND his Notes on Edible Plants. I started with this series of serialized chapters first published in January, 1887 in the American Naturalist because it was agreeably broken into chunks already, and I was only interested in vegies. Sturtevant's Notes contains more interesting details occasionally when it covers the same vegetables...so I'm going to add them. While not radically different, His. of Veg. is more of an outline for a more finished book, and Edible fills in some fun facts (and leaves out the ten mile long "in such and such place it is called...". I've grown to enjoy those lists - almost.
I realized we (as in you and me) were missing out when I was looking for some illustration from the 19th century or earlier to illustrate Jacque Cartier's mention of cucumbers in North America.
When I add a paragraph or so from Notes to replace a more sparse description from History, I will use this color.
1887
HISTORY OF GARDEN VEGETABLES. (with additions)
BY E. LEWIS STURTEVANT, A.M., M.D.
(Continued from page 833.)
https://archive.org/details/jstor-2451478
Don't forget...the footnotes have been removed here, so you can go to the above link for them if interested. There is a text format there if you need to copy/paste for searches.
Costmary. Balsamita vulgaris Willd.
THIS plant, says Bryant, was formerly cultivated in gardens for the purpose of mixing with salads, and it is a pity it is not continued, as from its sensible qualities it seems superior to many aromatic plants now in credit. In England, then, it had gone out of culture in 1783.
In France, however, its leaves are quite frequently used as a condiment. It is a plant of very minor importance even in France. It occurs also in the gardens of Constantinople. In the United States it is recorded by Burr in 1863, who mentions one variety.
The name alecost came from its former use in flavoring ales and beers.
In reality, other herbs were for a long period employed to impart to malt liquor a bitter or aromatic taste, as Ground Ivy (Nepeta Glechoma Benth.) anciently called Ale-hoof or Gill; Alecost (Balsamita vulgaris L.); Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale L.); and Sage (Salvia officinalis L.). Even Long Pepper and Bay Berries were used for the same purpose, but in addition to hops.
1874 - Pharmacographia; a History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin, Met with in Great Britain and British India
Alecost, or Costmary, is called,
- in France, baume-coq, cog des jardins, grand baume, herbe au coq, herbe de Sainte-Marie, menthe-coq, menthe á bouquets, menthe grecque, menthe Notre-Dame ;
- in Denmark, balsam ;
- in Germany, die frauenmunze ;
- in Dutch, tuinbalsam ;
- in Italy, costo-ortense ;
- in Spain, heirva de Santa;
- in Portugal, balsamita;
- in Sweden, svensk salvia ;
- in Arabic, belsaneh, melsaneh ;
- by the Greeks at Constantinople, kosta.
It is the Mentha hortensis corymbifera of Bauhin's " Pinax," 226.
Cress. Lepidium sativum L.
De Candolle inclines to believe this plant to be a native of Persia, whence it may have spread into the gardens of India, Syria, Greece, and Egypt, and even as far as Abyssinia. It is said by Xenophon, about 400 B.C., to have been eaten by the Persians before becoming acquainted with bread; and Pliny, in the first century, speaks of the nasturtium as growing in Arabia, of a remarkable size.
It finds frequent mention in the Greek and Latin authors.
It is named by Turner, which indicates its presence in England in 1538, and in three of its varieties was in American gardens in 1806.
Four varieties are now under culture, — the common, the curled and extra-curled, the broad-leaved, and the golden.
The synonymy of these various types is as below, it being premised that the modern varieties vary somewhat in degree only:
I.
Nasturtium hortense. Fuch., 1542, 362;
Trag., 1552, 82; Pin., 1561, 221 ; Ger., 1597, 194; Dod., 1616, 711.
Gartenkress. Roszlin, 1550, 188.
Nasturtium. Matth., 1558, 280; Lob. Obs., 1576, 107; Cam., Epit, 1586, 335 ; Matth., Op., 1598, 425 ; Chabr., 1677, 289.
Nasturtio. Pictorius ed. Macer, 1581, 75.
Nasturtium Hortense commune. Bauh., Phytopin., 1596, 161.
Nasturtium hortense vulgatum. Bauh., Pin., 1623, 103.
Nasturtium vulgare. J. Bauh., 165 1, ii. 912.
Common Garden Cress. Ray, 1686, 825; Vil., 1885, 207.
Garden Cress. Townsend, 1726.
Lepidium sativum. Lin., Sp., 1763, 899.
Common Cress. Stevenson, 1765 ; Bryant, 1783, 103; Miller's Diet., 1807.
Common Small-Leaved. Mawe, 1778.
Cresson alenois commun. Vil., 1883, 194.
II.
Nasturtium hortense crispum. Bauh., Phytopin., 1596, 161; Pin., 1623, 104.
Nasturtium hortense L. Ger., 1597, 194.
Nasturtium crispum latifolium. Matth., Op., 1598, 425.
Nasturtium crispum augustifolium. Matth., Op., 1598, 426.
Nasturtium crispum Joh. Bauhin. J. Bauh., 1651, ii. 913.
Nasturtium hortense crispum latifolium. Bauh., Prod., 1671, 44.
Nasturtium hortense crispum angustifolium. Bauh., Prod., 1671, 43-
Nasturtium crispum. Chabr., 1677, 289.
Curled Cress. Ray, 1686, 825; Townsend, 1726; Stevenson, 1765, 34; Bryant, 1783, 103; McMahon, 1806; Mill. Diet, 1807.
Lepidium sativum crispum. Lin., Sp., 1763, 899.
Cresson frise. L'Hort. Fran., 1824; Petit. Diet., 1826.
Cresson alenois frise. Vil., 1883, 195.
Curled, or Normandy, and Extra-Curled Dwarf. Vil., 1885, 207.
III.
Nasturtium. Cam., Epit, 1586, 335.
Nasturtium hortense latifolium. Bauh., Phytopin., 1596, 160; Pin., 1623, 103.
Nasturtium latifolium dioscorideum. J. Bauh., 165 1, ii. 913.
Nasturtium latifolium. Chabr., 1677, 289.
Broad-Leaved Garden Cress. Ray, 1686, 825 ; Vil., 1885, 207.
Broad-Leaved. Townsend, 1726; Stevenson, 1765,34; Mawe, 1778; McMahon, 1806; Mill. Diet, 1807.
Lepidium latifolium. Lin., Sp., 1763, 899.
Cresson a large feidlles. L'Hort Fran., 1824; Petit, 1826.
Cresson alenois a large feidlle. Vil., 1883, 195.
IV.
Cresson dore. Petit, 1826 ; Noisette, 1829. Golden. Hort. Trans., 1826, vi. 583; Burr, 1863, 343; Vil., 1885, 208.
Cresson alenois dore. Vil., 1883, 195.
It appears as if the types of the modern varieties have not changed through culture, as three are quite ancient, and the fourth but an ordinary variation, or of a pale yellowish-green color. The curled cress seems to have been first observed by J. Bauhin, who furnished his brother, C. Bauhin, with seed pre- ceding 1596.
The cress, gardyn cress, or pepper-grass, is called,
- in France, cresson alenois, passerage cultivee, nasitor ;
- in Germany, garten- kresse ;
- in Flanders, hofkers ;
- in Holland, tuinkers ;
- in Denmark, havekarse ;
- in Italy, agretto, crescione inglese, cerconcello ;
- in Spain, mastuerzo, malpica;
- in Portugal, mastruco;
- in Arabia, half;* in Arabic, res/iad;
- in Bengali, aleverie, haleem;
- in Hindustani, ckunsee;
- in India, halim, or chanstir ;
- in Persian, turehtezuk
- in Sindh, ahreo ; in Telegu, adala vitala?
Cuckoo-Flower. Cardamine pratensis L.
An insignificant and nearly worthless salad plant, native to the whole of Europe, Northern Asia, and Arctic America, extending to Vermont and Wisconsin.
It has a piquant savor, and is used as water-cress. It is recorded as cultivated in the vegetable-garden in France by Noisette in 1829, and by Vilmorin in 1883, yet, as Decaisne and Naudin remark, but rarely.
I find no record of its cultivation in England, but in America it is described by Burr in four varieties, differing in the flowers, and as having become naturalized to a limited extent, — a fact which implies a certain cultivation. Its seed does not appear in our seed-catalogues.
The Cuckoo-Flower, or Lady's Smock, is called,
in France, cresson des pres, cresson elegant, cressonnette, passerage sauvage ;
in Germany, tviesen kresse ;
in Spain, berros de prado?
Cucumber. Cucumis sativus L.
The cucumber, under the form Cucumis hardwickii Royle, is found growing wild in the Himalaya region, and a variety (sikkimensis Hook) is cultivated in Nepal and Sikkim. Its origin is therefore ascribed to the East Indies.
It has been a plant of cultivation from the most remote times, but De Candolle finds no support for the common belief of its presence in ancient Egypt at the time of the Israelite migration into the wilderness, although its culture in Western Asia is indicated from philological data as more than three thousand years old.
The cucumber is said to have been brought into China from the West 140-86 B.C., and can be identified in a Chinese work on agriculture of the fifth century, and is described by Chinese authors of 1590 and 1640.
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| Chinese ink and watercolour on paper; signed Qi Baishi (1864-1957) |
Cucumbers were known to the ancient Greeks and to the Romans, and Pliny even mentions their forced culture. They find mention in the middle ages, and in the botanies from Ruellius (1536) onward.
The cucumber is believed to be the sikushemeros of Dioscorides, and the sikuos of Theophrastus. Pliny says cucumbers were much grown in Africa as well as in Italy in his time, and that the Emperor Tiberius had cucumbers at his table every day in the year. We find reference to them in France in the ninth century, for Charlemagne ordered cucumbers to be planted on his estate.
In Gough's British Topography, cucumbers are stated to have been common in England in the time of Edward III, 1327, but during the wars of the houses of York and Lancaster, their cultivation was neglected, the plant was lost, and they were reintroduced only in 1573. In 1629, Parkinson says "in many countries they use to eate coccumbers as wee doe apples or Peares," and they are thus eaten and relished at the present day in southern Russia and in Japan.
In America they are almost coeval with the discovery, as the companions of Columbus were growing them in their gardens at Hayti in 1494. 1535, Cartier mentions "very great cucumbers" cultivated by the Indians about Hochelaga, now Montreal. In 1539, De Soto found in Florida at Apalache " cucumbers better than those of Spain" and also at other villages, and, in 1562, Ribault13 mentions them as cultivated by the Florida Indians. According to Capt. John Smith,14 Captains Amidos and Barlow mention cucumbers in Virginia in 1584 and they are mentioned as being cultivated there in 1609.15 Cucumberswere among the Indian vegetables destroyed by General Sullivan in 1779 16 in the Indian fields about Kashong, near the present Geneva, N. Y. At the Bermudas, "cowcumbers" were planted in 1609.x In Massachusetts, they are mentioned in 1629 by Rev. Francis Higginson; William Wood mentions them in his New England's Prospects, 1629-33. In Brazil, cucumbers were seen by Nieuhoff in 1647 and by Father Angelo in 1666.
There are a great number of varieties varying from the small gherkin to the mammoth English varieties which attain a length of twenty inches or more. The cultivated gherkin is a variety used exclusively for pickling and was in American gardens in 1806. At Unyanyembe, Central Africa, and other places where the cucumber grows almost wild, says Burton,6 the Arabs derive from its seed an admirable salad oil, which in flavor equals and perhaps surpasses the finest produce of the olive. Vilmorin in Les Plantes Potageres,1883, describes 30 varieties. Most, if not all, of these as well as others including 59 different names have been grown on the grounds of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station. While some of the varieties grown differ but little, yet there are many kinds which are extraordinarily distinct.
In pursuing my plan of treating of the origin of the types of varieties I recognize the difficulty of a very complete treatment, through my little knowledge of the wild forms, and of the species from a botanist's point of view. The following attempt, however, may be considered reliable as far as it goes: The types of our common cucumbers are fairly well figured in the ancient botanies, but the fruit is far inferior in appearance to those we grow to-day, being apparently more rugged and less symmetrical.
The following synonymy is established from the figures and descriptions :
I.
- Cucumis sativus vulgaris. Fuchs (See illus. below, a book) 697. 1542.
- Cucumis sativus. Roeszl. 116. 1550; Cam. Epit. 294. 1586.
- Cucumis. Trag. 831. 1552; Fischer 1646.
- Cucumis vulgaris. Get. 762, 1597; Chabr. 134. 1677.
- Concombre. Tourn. t. 32. 1719.
- Short Green. Park. Par. 1629.
- Short Green Prickly. Mawe 1778; Mill. Diet. 1807.
- Early Green Cluster. Mill. Diet. 1807.
- Green Cluster. Thorburn 1828.
- Early Cluster of American seedsmen.
II.
A second form, very near to the above, but longer, less rounding, and more prickly, has a synonymy as below :
- Cucumeres. Matth. 282. 1558.
- Cucumis sativus. Dalechamp 1:62c 1587.
- Cucumeres sativi and esculenti Lob. Icon. 1:638. 1591.
- Cucumis vulgaris Dod. 662. 1616.
- Ccdruolo. Dur. C. 103. 1617.
- Cucumis vulgaris, viridis, and albis. Bauh. J. 2:246. 1651.
- Long Green Prickly. Mill. Diet. 1807.
- Early Frame. Thorb. Cat. 1828 and 1886.
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| 1782 - Mawe |
III.
The third form is the smooth and medium-long cucumbers, which, while they have quite a. diversity of size, yet have a common shape and smoothness.
Such are:
- Cucumer sativus. Pin. 192. 1561.
- Concombre. Tourn. t. 32. 1719.
- Large Smooth Green Roman. Mawe, 1778; Mill. Diet. 1807.
- Long Smooth Green Turkey. Mawe 1778; Mill. Diet. 1807.
- Long Green Turkey. Thorb. Cat. 1828.
- Turkey Long Green or Long Green. Landreth. 1885.
- Greek, or Athenian. Vilm. 1885.
IV.
The fourth form includes those known as English, and are distinct, from their excessive length, smoothness, and freedom from seeds, although in a botanical classification they would be united with the preceding (from which they have, doubtless, originated). They, are usually quite free from spines, often smooth, and, as grown, are very straight.
My synonymy for these would scarcely be justified had I not observed the tendency of the fruit to curve under conditions of ordinary culture :
- Cucumis longus. Cam. Epit. 295. 1586.
- Cucumis longus eidem. Baugh. J. 2:248. 1651.
- Green Turkey Cucumber. Bryant 267. 1783.
- Long Green English varieties. Vilm. 163. 1883.
V.
The Bonneuil Large White Cucumber, grown largely about Paris for the use of perfumers,
(I didn't know that! Did you?) is quite distinct from all other varieties, the fruit being ovoid, perceptibly flattened from end to end in three or four places, thus producing an angular appearance. We may suspect that Gerarde figured this type in his Cucumber, which came from Spain into Germany, as his figure bears a striking resemblance in the form of the fruit and in the leaf:
- Cucumis ex Hispanico semine natus. Ger. 764. 1597.
- Cucumis sativus major. Bauh. Pin. 310. 1623. (excl. Fuch.)
- Bonneuil Large White. Vilm. 222. 1885.
- White Dutch. A. Blanc. No. 6133.
VI.
The other types of known cucumbers are those which have lately appeared under the name of Russian. I know nothing of their history. They are very distinct, and resemble a melon more than a cucumber, — at least in external appearance :
1. The Early Russian, small, oval, and smooth.
2. The Russian Gherkin, obovate, and ribbed like a melon.
3. The Russian Netted, oval, and densely covered with a fine net-work.
The appearance of these new types indicates that we have by no means exhausted the capabilities of this species. The Turkie cucumber of Gerarde is not now to be recognized under culture, nor are the Cucumer minor pyriformis of Gerarde and of J. Bauhin, the Cucumis pyriformis of C. Bauhin's " Phytopinax," 1596.
If the synonymy be closely examined it will be noted that some of the figures represent cucumbers as highly improved as at the present day. The Cucumis longus of J. Bauhin is figured as if equalling our longest and best English forms; the concombre of Tournefort is also a highly improved form, as is also the cucumeres of Matthiolus in 1558.
The cucumber is called,
- in France, concombre, cocombre (cocomber by Ruellius, 1536);
- in Germany, garke, ku hummer ;
- in Flanders and Holland, komkommer ;
- in Denmark, agurken ;
- in Italy, cetriolo, cedriuolo ;
- in Spain, cohombro, pepino;
- in Portugal, pepino
It was called coivcumber by Ray in England in 1686.
Called,
- in Greece, aggouria ;
- in Slavonic, krastavak ;
- in Estha- nian, ukkurits, tig gurits or urits;
- in Polish, ogorek ;
- in Bo- hemian, agurha; 3
- in Tartar, kiar ;
- in Calmuc, chaja ;
- in Ar- menian, karan ;
- in Russian, ogurzi;
- in Egypt, khyar? fakus ;
- in Arabic, kusud ;
- in Bengali, susha$ sasha, khyira, kankur;
- in Ceylon, rata-kcekeri, pipingya ;
- in Hindustani, keera? khira or kakri ;
- in Persian, kyar ; 3 in Sanscrit, sookasa ;
- in Tamil, mooloo- velleri;
- in Japan, akwa, karas uri, ki tiri.
The cultivated cucumber was the sikus hemeros of Dioscorides, the sikuos of Theophrastus. The Cucumis flexuosus L. is occasionally sold by our seedsmen to be grown as a curiosity, but it may be used for pickling. This plant was known to the herbalists, and its figures compare with those of our modern seedsmen, as, for instance :
- Cucumis longus. Lugd., 1587, i. 621.
- Green Serpent. Dammon Cat, 1884-85.
- Concombre Serpent. Vilmorin, 1883, 166.
The fruit is characterized by its striae, which render it at once recognizable. In Japan it is called sjo kwa, awo uri.
Cumin. Cuminum cyminum L.
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1881 -Vick's
|
A small annual plant indigenous to the upper regions of the Nile, but carried at an early period by cultivation to Arabia, India, and China, as well as to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean.
It is referred to by the prophet Isaiah, and is mentioned in Matthew. Pliny calls it the best appetizer of all the condiments, says the Ethiopian and the African are of superior quality, but that some prefer the Egyptian.
During the middle ages Cumin was one of the species in most common use, and is mentioned in Normandy in 716, in England between 1264 and 1400, and is enumerated in 1419 among the merchandise taxed in the city of London.
It is mentioned in many of the herbals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and is recorded as under cultivation in England in 1594. In India the seeds form an ingredient of some curry powders and pickles, and in France yet find use in cookery.
The seed is occasionally advertised in American seed-catalogues, but is probably very rarely grown. (Vick's Cat., 1884)
Cumin is named,
- in France, Cumin de Malte ;
- in Germany, pfeffer-kummel ;
- in Holland, komijn ;
- in Italy, comino di Malta ;
- in Spain, comino ; s in Greece, kumino ;
- in Egypt, kammoun ;
- in Egyptian, thapeh, or tapen, or tapn ;
- in Arabic, kimoon;
- in Bengali, jeera, or zira ;
- in Ceylon, dooroo ;
- in Hindustani, jeera, zira;
- in Malay, jintan;
- in Sanscrit, jeruka ajaji;
- in Tamil, siragum ;
- in Telegu, gilakara.
Dandelion. Taraxacum officinale Weber; T. dens leonis Desf.
The dandelion is a modern introduction to our gardens, and all the varieties now grown can be recognized in a state of nature ; and yet, on account of its popularity, and hence the forced conditions of its growth, the variations, to the careless observer, seem very great.
The history of the improved dandelion may be found in full in the American Naturalist of January, 1886.
The beginnings of the culture of a plant must, however, be very gradual, single individuals often growing the species in gardens long before the plant receives general appreciation.
Thus with the dandelion, although its culture cannot be fairly said to antedate 1836, yet Stevenson, in his "Garden Kalendar" for 1765, in England, although not directly mentioning its culture, yet implies culture by giving directions for the blanching.
In China, according to Bretschneider, the leaves are recorded as being eaten as a vegetable in the fourteenth century, and the plant is classed among vegetables by Li-shi-chen, a writer of the sixteenth century; but from the data given we cannot assume cultivation.
Dill. Anethum graveolens L.
This aromatic plant has but little use in the garden.
In France the seeds are used as a condiment, and for pickling with cucumbers.
In American gardens it is rather to be considered as a medicinal herb.
It is commonly regarded as the anethon of Dioscorides and the anethum of Pliny, Palladius, and others. The name dill is found in writings of the middle ages, and it is spoken of as a garden plant in the early botanies.
The variety A. soma De C. is largely grown in India. In England it was called dyll by Turner in 1538, which implies its presence at that date. It also occurs in the vocabulary of Alfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the tenth century.
It was in American gardens before 1806, and seems to occur spontaneous in the far West, as its roots are used as a food by the Snake and Shoshone Indians, by whom it is called
yampeh.
Dill, or dyll, is called,
- in France, aneth, fenouil batard ;
- in Germany, dill;
- in Flanders, dille ;
- in Denmark, dild;
- in Italy, aneto ;
- in Spain, eneldo y
- in Arabic, the plant chebet, the seed chamar;
- in Egypt, sjoebet ;
- in Yemen, sckibt;
- in Bengali, suloopha, soolpha ;
- in Ceylon, sattacooppa
- in Hindustani, sowa, sole, soya, shutapoospha ;
- in India, shutapooshna ;
- in Sanscrit, sitasiva, missreya, shaleya;
- in Tamil, saddacooppie ;
- in Telugu, suddapa, sompa-sopu.*
A plant now included among vegetables for the garden by Vilmorin, although he says it is scarcely ever cultivated, but the tubers are often collected from the wild plant in France.
Burr likewise includes this species among American garden plants, but we know not upon what authority.
In 1783, Bryant says this French weed was cultivated in Holland for its roots, which were carried to market; and De Candolle and Sprengel say that in Siberia the tubers are much relished by the Tartars, and also are used in Germany. It scarcely can be considered seriously as a plant of culture.
The earth-nut, tuberous-rooted pea, or eatable-rooted pea, is called,
- in France, gesse tubereuse, anette, anotte de Bourgogne, chataigne de terre, chourles, favonette, gland de terre, macion, macusson, mitrouillet, souris de terre ;
- in Germany, erdnuss ;
- in Flanders, aardnoot ;
- in Holland, aardakker ;
- in Italy, ghianda di terra ;
- by the Calmucks, sohnok ;
- by the Tartars, tschina
(To be continued.)
1874 - Pharmacographia; a History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin, Met with in Great Britain and British India (Hmm..I forget why I put this here...)
Samuel Y. Haines, well known in the seed trade, died at Rockford, Ill., February 27, age 63 years. Mr. Haines had been suffering somewhat from rheumatism, but was at his desk as usual up to the previous evening. Myocarditis was given as the cause of death. 
