Published November 1, 1888
https://archive.org/details/jstor-2451274
(Continued from page 808.)
Kohl-rabi. Brassiea oleracea caulo-rapa, D C.
It is now found as Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group if you are looking it up.
I FIND no certain identification of this race in the ancient writings.
The bunidia of Pliny seems rather to be the ruta baga, as he says it is between a radish and a rape.
The goggulis of Theophrastus and Galen seems also to be the
rutabaga, for Galen says the root contained within the earth is hard, unless
cooked.
In 1558 Matthiolus speaks of the kohl-rabi as having lately came into Germany
from Italy. Between 1573 and 1575 Rauwolf saw it in the gardens of Tripoli and
Aleppo. Lobel in 1570, Camerarius in 1586, Dalechamp in 1587, and other of the older botanists, all figure or describe it as under European culture.
This plant, in the view of some writers, is a cross between the cabbage and the rape, and many of the names applied to it convey this idea. This view is probably a mistaken one, as the plant in its sportings under culture tends to the form of the marrow cabbage, from which it is probably a derivation.
In 1884, in two plants in pots in the greenhouse, I had good kohl-rabi bulbs, and one of these extended itself until it became a marrow cabbage, and when planted out in the spring attained its growth as a marrow cabbage. This idea of its origin finds countenance in the figures of the older botanists, thus Camerarius, in 1586, figures a plant as a kohl-rabi which in all essential points resembles a marrow cabbage, being tapering from a small stem into a long kohl-rabi, with a flat top like the marrow cabbage.
The figures given by Lobel, in 1591, Dodonseus, in 1616, and Bodseus, in 1644, when compared with Camerarius' figure, suggest the marrow cabbage.
A long highly improved form, not now under culture, is figured by Gerarde in 1597, J. Bauhin, in 1651, and Chabreeus, in 1677, and the modern form is given by Gerarde, and by Matthiolus in 1598. A very unimproved form, out of harmony with the other figures, is given by Dalechamp, in 1587, and Castor Durante, in 1617.
This synonymy can be tabulated in order as below:
1. Caulorapum. Cam. epit., 1586, 251.
2. Rapa, Br. peregrina, caule rapum gerens. Lob. ic, 1591, 246.
Br. caule rapum gerens. Dod. pempt., 1616, 625.
Rapa brassica. Bodseus, 1644, 777.
3. Caulo rapum longum. Ger., 1597, 250.
3.
Br. caulorapa. J. Bauh., 1651, ii., 830.
Br. caulorapa sive Rapo caulis. Chabr., 1677, 270.
4. Caulorapum rotundum. Ger., 1597, 250.
Brassica gongylodes. Matth. op., 1598, 367.
5. Brassica raposa. Lugd., 1587, 522.
Bradica raposa. Cast. Dur., 1617, app.
Matthiolus, as we have stated, says the plant came into Germany
from Italy ; Pena and Lobel say it came from Greece ; Gerarde,
that it groweth in Italy, Spain and Germany, from whence he received seeds.
These excerpts indicate a southern origin for this
vegetable, and the marrow cabbages are very sensitive to cold. The
more highly improved forms, as figured in our synonymy, are in
authors of northern or central Europe, while the unimproved forms
are given by more southern writers. This indicates that the present
kohl-rabi received its development in northern countries.
The varieties now grown are the white and purple, in early and
late forms, the curled leaf, or Neapolitan, and the artichoke-leaved.
One, at least, was in American gardens as early as 1806, and the
rest appear before 1863.
The nomenclature of this plant is deserving of attention, from
the presence of foreign words, for which its history seems to afford
but little justification.
The kohl-rabi, Turnip-rooted cabbage, Arabian, cole rape, cole
turnip, Cape cabbage, or Hungarian turnip, is called
- in France
choux-raves, chou de Siam, boule de Siam ;
- in Germany, oberkohlrabi;
- in Flanders, raapkool;
- in Holland, koolraapen boven den
grond ;
- in Denmark, overjordisk kohlrabi, kundekaal;
- in Italy,
cavolo rapa, torsi;
- in Spain, col rabanho;
- in Portugal, couve rabano,
couve de Siam;
- in Norway, overjords-kaalrabi
- in India, ole hole,
or gool jur ka kuhun.
Lavender. Lavandula vera D C.
Lavender is sometimes grown for the use of the leaves as a condiment, but more often for the flowers, which find use in perfumery; but we have never heard of its being grown on a large scale
in the United States, although it was in garden culture in 1806.
Its present growing is doubtless very insignificant.
There is no satisfactory identification of lavender in the writings
of the ancients, although it seems to have been well known to the
botanists of the sixteenth century, and the use of the perfume was
indicated as early as the fourteenth century, and as a medicine even
in the twelfth century.
Its seed was in English seedsmen's lists of
1726, for garden culture.
Lavender is called -
in France lavande, aspic, lavande femelle ;
in
Germany, lavendel, spike;
in Flanders, lavendel;
in Denmark,
lavendel;
in Italy, lavanda;
in Spain, espliego
Lavandula spica L., a more southern species, is confounded with
the above in cultivation, and is also cultivated on a large scale for
purposes of distillation.
Mawe, in 1778, named four varieties,
- the
narrow-leaved with blue flowers,
- the narrow-leaved with white
flowers,
- the broad-leaved and
- the Dwarf.
This vegetable was the prason of the ancient Greeks, the porrum
of the Romans, who distinguished two kinds, the eapitatum, or
leek, and the sectilis, or chives, perhaps, although Columella, Pliny and Palladius indicate these as forms of the same plant
brought about through difference of culture, the chive-like form
being produced by thick planting. They seem to have been very
popular at Rome.
In Europe the leek was generally known
throughout the middle ages, and in the earlier botanies some of the
figures of the leek represent the two kinds of planting alluded to
by the Roman writers. In England, in 1726, Townsend says that
"leeks are mightily used in the kitchen for broths and sauces.
When they reached America I do not find recorded, but prior to
1775 they were grown at Mobile, Ala., and were cultivated by the
Choctaw Indians. The leek may vary considerably by culture, and often attains
quite a large size ; one with the blanched portion a foot long and
nine inches in circumference, and the leaf fifteen inches in breadth
and three feet in length, has been recorded.
The leek, or porret, is called:
in France poireau, poiree, poirette,
porreau ;
in Flanders and Holland, prei ;
in Germany, lauoh, porree ;
in Denmark, porre ;
in Italy, porro ;
in Spain, puerro ;
in
Portugal, alho porro ;
in Greece, to prasa ;
in Sweden, puris ;
in
Russia, pros;
in Norway, purre.
In Arabic, karrat or Jcour-
nas;
in Bengali, puroo ;
in Egypt, korrat;
in India, kundaneh,
zalook or puroo ;
in Persian, gundena.
This species is supposed by authors to be a cultivated form of
Allium ampeloprasum L.
The cultivation of the Lentil is very ancient, as it has been
found in the Egyptian tombs of the twelfth dynasty, or 2,200 to
2,400 B.C.
It has also been found in the lacustrine debris of
Switzerland dating from the age of bronze. Its culture was well
known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and has been continued
through the middle ages to the present time. New word for me..."lacustrine - of, relating to, or associated with lakes".
Bauhin, in 1623
names a large and a small sort, the seed reddish, pale yellow, White,
tawny and black, and Vilmorin, in 1883, describes four varieties
for garden culture.
Its seed is used in soups and stews, and the
culture is of more importance in the warmer regions. Lentils are
recorded by Burr, in 1863, for American use; but much of the
seed found exposed for sale in groceries is imported.
The lentil is called:
in France lentille, arousse, aroufle;
in Germany, linse;
in Flanders and Holland, linze;
in Denmark, lindse ;
in Italy, lente, lenticchia;
in Spain, lenteja;
in Portugal, lentilha.
In Arabic, a'ds ;
in Egypt, adz ;
in India, mussoor ;
in Sanscrit,
mussoora ;
in Latin, lens ;
in Slav, lesha ;
in Illyrian, lechja ;
in
Lithuanian, lenszic;
the Greeks, fakos or fakai;
the Berbers, ades.
Lettuce. Lactuca sativa L.
(I have to confess I am not looking too hard for lettuce art as I plan to post Sturtevants paper on lettuce, in which he goes into greater detail.)
This, the best of all salad plants, as a cultivated plant has a high
antiquity.
It is evident, by an anecdote related by Herodotus, that
it appeared at the royal tables of the Persian kings about 550 B.C. The medicinal properties as a food-plant was noted by Hippocrates, 2430 B.C., praised by Aristotles, 356 B.C., and the species described
by Theophrastus, 322 B.C., Dioscorides, 60 A.D., and mentioned
by Galen, 164 A.D., who gives an idea of a very general use.
Among the Romans it was very popular. Columella, A.D. 42,
describes the Caecilian, Cappadocian, Cyprian and Tartesan. Pliny, A.D. 79, enumerates the alba, Caecilian, Cappadocian, crispa, Graeca,
Laconicon, nigra, purpurea and rubens. Palladius, 210 A.D.,
implies varieties, and mentions the process of blanching. Martial, A.D. 101, gives to the lettuces of Cappadocia the term viles, or
cheap, implying abundance.
In China its presence can be identified in the fifth century. In England, Chaucer, about 1340, uses
the word in his prologue, "well loved he garlic, onions and lettics,"
and it is likewise mentioned by Turner, in 1538, who spells the
word lettuse. It is mentioned as cultivated in Isabella Island, in
1494, by Peter Martyr, as also in Mexico at a later date; is noted
as abundant in Hayti in 1565, etc.
In the report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station
for 1885, eighty-seven varieties are fully described with 585 names
or synonyms. Vilmorin describes, in 1883, one hundred and
thirteen kinds as distinct.
The number of varieties named by
various writers at various times are as follows:
(This is an interesting way to look at lettuce history!, showing cultural preferences.)
For France,
- in 1612, six;
- in 1690, twenty-one;
- in 1829, forty;
- in 1883, one
hundred and thirteen.
For Holland,
For
England,
- in 1597, six;
- in 1629, nine;
- in 1726, nine;
- in 1763,
fifteen;
- in 1765, eighteen;
- in 1807, fourteen.
In America,
- in
1806, sixteen;
- in 1885, eighty-seven.
The cabbage and cos lettuces are the sorts now principally
grown, but various other kinds, such as the curled, are frequently,
and the sharp-leaved, oak-leaved, etc., occasionally, as novelties.
In this large class, I shall content myself with offering the synonymy of a few of the varieties now known, and which shall indicate the antiquity of our cultivated types.
I.
The Lanceolate-leaved Type.
- Lactuca longifolia. Bauh. phytopin., 1596, 200.
- Lattuga franzese. Cast. Dur., 1617, 244, cum ic.
- Lactuca folio oblongo acuto. Bauh. pin., 1623, 125; prod., 1671, 60,
cum ic.
- Lactuca longo at valde angusto folio. J. Bauh.,1651, ii.,999, cum ic.;
Chabr.,1677, 313, cum ic.
- Deer Tongue. Greg., 1883.
II.
Pena and Lobel, in 1570, say that this form is but rarely grown
in France and Germany, although
common in the gardens of Italy;
and Heuze says it was brought from Rome to France by Rabelais
in 1537.
- Lactura florescens. Cam. epit., 1586, 299, cum ic.
- Lactuca intybacea, Lombard Lettuce. Ger., 1597, 240, cum ic. (illustration to right)
- Lactuca foliis endivise. Matth. op., 1598, 399, cum ic.
- Lactuca Romana louga dulcis. J. Bauh., 1651, ii., 998, cum ic. ; Chabr.,
1677, 313, cum ic.
- La Romaine. Le Jard. Solit., 1612.
- Romaines. Vil„ 1883, 307.
We can reasonably believe the lettuce of Camerarius to be very
close to the Florence Cos. The Lombard lettuce was grown as a
sport in the garden of the New York Agricultural Experiment
Station, in 1886, and the figures by Bauhin and Chabraeus may well
be the Paris Cos.
I would not be understood, however, as implying that these figures represent the improved forms of our present
culture, but as the prototypes from which our plants have appeared,
as shown not only by resemblance of leaf form, but through the
study of variables in the garden.
Ray, in 1686, describes the Cos
as having light green and dark green varieties, and these, as well
as the Spotted Cos, are indicated by Bauhin in 1623.
III.
This is the sort commonly grown, and the figures given in the
sixteenth century indicate that the heading habit was even then
firmly established.
We have the following synonyms to offer, premising that types are referred to, and not exact variety resemblance : —
a.
- Lactuca crispa. Matth., 1558, 264 ; Pin., 1561, 195.
- Lattuga. Cast. Dur., 1617, 243.
- Laroyale? Le Jard. Solit., 1612; Quintyne, 1690, etc.
- Laitve Blonde de Berlin, syn. Laitve royale. Vil., 1883, 295.
- Berlin.
b.
- Lactuca sativa sessilis sive capitata. Lob. ic, 1591, i., 242.
- Lactuca capitata. Bod., 1616, 645.
- Very Early Dwarf Green.
c.
- Lactuca. Cam. epit., 1586, 298.
- Lactuca capitata. Ger., 1597, 240.
- Lactuca crispa. Matth. op., 1598, 399.
- Batavians. Vil., 1883.
d.
Lattich. Roszlin, i550, 167.
- Green Fringed. This latter identification is from the appearance of the young
plant. The old plant is remarkably different, forming a true
rosette.
IV.
Cutting and Miscellaneous.
- Lactuca crispa altera. Ger., 1597, 240.
- Lactuca crispa et tenuiter dissecta. J. Bauh., 1651, ii., 1000; Chabr.,
1677,314.
- Curled Cutting.
- Lactuca foliis querni. Bay, 1686, 219.
- Oak-leaved.
- Capitatam cum pluribus capitibus. J. Bauh., 1651, ii., 998; Chabr.,
1677, 313.
- Egyptian Sprouting.
The minor variations which are now separated into varieties did
not receive the same recognition in former times, the same variety name covering what now would be several varieties; thus Quintyne, in 1693, calls perpignans both a green and a pale form, etc. Green, light green, dark green, red and spotted lettuces are named
in the old botanies; hence we cannot assert any new types have
appeared in modern culture.
The generic names of the lettuce in the various languages are :
- in Greek, thridahine, thridakinos, thridax hemeros;
 |
DODIE THAYER LETTUCE-FORM LIDDED TUREEN.
I want this! |
- in Latin, Lactuca;
- in France, laitue cultivee;
- in Germany, lattich;
- in Flanders
and Holland, latouw;
- in Denmark, salat;
- in Italy, lattuga;
- in
Spain, leehuga, ensiam;
- in Portugal, alface;
- in Sweden, Denmark
and Russia, lalduk;
- in Norway, salat ;
- in Arabic, Mass or
khus;
- in Ceylon, salada;
- in China, ye tsai, kiu, sheng-tsai, pai-ku;
- in Cochin China, rau, diep tau;
- in Egypt, chaff;
- in Hindustani, kahoo;
- in India, kahoo;
- in Japan, hantats, futsu kusa,
too ts:isa.
HISTORY OF GARDEN VEGETABLES.
BY E. LEWIS STURTEVANT, M.D.
1888
