(Continued from page 532.)
This is the fifth installment of this wonderful series of articles by E. Lewis Sturtevant.
First published in January, 1887 in the American Naturalist, Sturtevant's HISTORY OF GARDEN VEGETABLES continued in installments for four more years, with the last being 1891.
Originally published without any illustrations, I have added what caught my eye. Tracking down online sources for the books referenced by Sturtevant in the footnotes (which I eliminated) was interesting, and I linked what I could. I also occasionally did Google translations. I find it is quite the rat hole of tangents that I scurry down while working on this, so don't expect the next installment to be posted quickly!
Remember, if you want to read the original, the link is given at the top of each section.
I hope you enjoy exploring this work as much as I do,
Emma
Caterpillars. Scorpiurus sp.
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| Vilmorin |
A STRANGE taste causes various species of Scorpiurus to be included among our garden
vegetables, the caterpillar-like forms of the seed-pods being used as salad-garnishing by those fond of practical jokes. As a vegetable their flavor is very indifferent.
The species enumerated by Vilmorin are:
- Scorpiurus vermiculatus L., the common caterpillar;
- S. muricatus L., the prickly caterpillar;
- S. sulcatus L., the furrowed caterpillar ; and
- S. subvillosus L., the hairy caterpillar.
This latter species is figured by Dodonsus in 1616, and is said even then to be sometimes grown in gardens. They are all native to Southern Europe.
Catnip. Nepeta cataria L.
It is hardly worth while to notice this plant of insignificant use, yet still holding a place in the herb-garden, and, in France, grown for use of the leaves as a condiment.
In 1726, Townsend says it is used by some in England to give a high relish in sauces. It is a native of Europe, and is now common throughout Eastern America. It is mentioned among the plants of Vir- ginia by Gronovius, as collected by Clayton preceding 1739.
The above facts took me to a story about Gronovius and Clayton, a story you can find here.
Catnip (called also Nepp) has for name:
- in France, menthe de chat, herbe aux chats ;
- in Germany, gemeines Katzenminze, Nepte ; (try Google Translate on gemeines Katzenminze
)
- in Holland, katte(n)kruid, nept ;
- in Denmark, katteurt, sisembrandt ;
- in Sweden, katlmynta ;
- in Italy, gattaria ;
- in Spain, gatera ;
- in Portugal, neveda dos gatos ;
- in Russia, koschitza inehta. (Hmmm...I think Sturtevant could have used G. Translate.)
Cauliflower. Brassica oleracea botrytis caidiflora DeC.
"Of all the flowers in the garden, I like the Cauliflower best."
Dr. Samuel Johnson.
I am unable to recognize the cauliflower in any of the cabbage tribe described by the ancient authors, although the perfected condition of our present vegetable would lead us to assign to it a great antiquity.
Its not being mentioned by Ruellius (1536), Fuchsius (1542), Roszlin (1550), Tragus (1552), Matthiolus (1558), and others would lead us to infer that it had not yet entered into general European culture.
According to Bauhin it is mentioned in the French edition of Dodonaeus, 1553 or 1559. The race of cauliflowers owe their peculiarity to a suppression of the floral organs and an abnormal development of the pedicels of the inflorescence.
This peculiarity finds recognition in the majority of the names applied in the various languages, as will be observed in the following synonymy:
- Brassica florida. Adv., 1570, 91 ; Ger., 1597, 246, fig.
- B. florida bolrytis. Lob., Obs., 1576, 123, cum ic; Lob., ic, 1591, i. 245.
- B. cauliflora. Cam., Epit, 1586, 252, cum ic; Matth., 1598, 367, cum ic. ; Dod., 1616, 624, cum ic; Bauh., Pin., 1623, iii.; Bodseus a Stapel, 1644, 776, cum ic.
- B. pompeiana, B. cypria. Lyte's Dod., 1586, 636.
- B. pompeiana aut cypria, B. florida dodo. Lugd., 1587, 522, cum ic.
- B. cypria sive pompeiana, vidgo caulifiori. Cam., Hort, 1588, 29.
- B. cauliflora, pompeiana plinio. Bauh., Phytopin., 1596, 177.
- Bradica florida.- Cast., Dur., 1617, ap. cum ic
- B.midtiflora. J. Bauh., 165 1, ii. 829, cum ic; Chabr., 1677, 269, cum ic.
The vernacular names earliest recorded are mostly founded upon the bloom, and may be translated flowering-cabbage.
In the English name used by Lyte in 1586 we have a source of origin indicated, as Cypress coleworts. Dalechampius likewise, in 1587, gives one French name as Chou de Cypre. Pierres Pompes, a French author of 1694, is quoted by Phillips as saying about the cauliflower, "It comes to us in Paris, by way of Marseilles, from the isle of Cyprus, which is the only place I know of where it seeds."
Strange, indeed, it is to find, at a date as remote as 1565, the cauliflower to be reported as abounding at Hayti, in the New World, at a date preceding nearly all our recorded mentionings. It was, however, a well-known and carefully-cultivated plant in France in 1612, if we may trust "Le Jardinier Solitaire."
Rauwolf, who travelled through the Orient in 1573-75, found the Caulifiore at Aleppo.
- In England it is figured by Gerarde in 1597, and must have been known to Lyte in 1586, as he gives an English name,— -flowrie cole, or Cypress coleworts; but, according to Parkinson, it was rare in 1629.
- In 1683, Worlidge praises them greatly.
- According to Heuze, three varieties of cauliflowers were described by Ibn-al-awan for the Nabathean agriculture in Spain in the twelfth century.
- In 1778, Mawe mentions for varieties only the early and the late, scarcely differing.
- In 1806, in America, McMahon knew the same only, and but two varieties are named by Bridgeman in 1832.
- In France, in 1824, three varieties — le dur, le demi-dur, and le tendre — are named, and the same in 1829.
- In 1883, Vilmorin describes sixteen sorts; and Burr describes ten sorts for America in 1863.
The varieties of the cauliflower are essentially of one type, although some are more highly improved than others; and there are differences in size, height, and season, one kind even being purplish in the head. The distinctions are, however, not highly constant, and variations found in the growing serve to bridge whatever chasms may appear; and hence we may conclude that the varieties are but due to seminal variation carefully selected.
The names given to the cauliflower in various countries are :
- in France, Choux-fleurs ;
- in Germany, Blumenkohl, Carfofil ;
- in Flanders and Holland, bloemkool ;
- in Denmark, blomkaal ;
- in Italy, cavol-fiore ;
- in Spain, Coliflor ;
- in Portugal, Couve flor ;'
- at Constantinople, karnabiti ;
- in India, phool kobee."
This is a fantastic image! I just had to make it full size. I have seen fasciation in coneflowers, but the thought of a cauliflower is mind-blowing!
Celeriac. Apium graveolens L., var. rapaceum DeC.
This vegetable is described by Gray as a state of the common celery in which the root is enlarged and eatable.
(Since writing the above I have come into possession of Porta's Villa;, lib. xii., 1592, and on page 686 he speaks of the Apium capitatum as found in the gardens of St. Agatha, Theano, and elsewhere in Apulia, taken from nature, and as unnoticed and unnamed by the ancients. He describes the bulb as being of the size of the human head, and of a sweet, odorous, and grateful taste. He also implies the beginnings of an unsuccessful culture elsewhere. Sturtevant)
It presents but few varieties, — one with a rough root, one with a globular, smooth root, one with variegated leaves, and a fourth which is very much
dwarfed. Other varieties are named, but the
differences are very unessential. the bulb veined
with red or violet, are mentioned, together with a
sub-variety with a round root.
In French works on gardening of 1826 and 1829, the white and the red, the latter described as
with smallage, as would appear from the context,
says the root is eaten, both raw and cooked.
Rauwolf, who travelled in the East (1573-75),
speaks of Eppich, whose roots are eaten as
delicacies, with salt and pepper, at Tripoli and
Aleppo; and J. Bauhin, who died in 1613, mentions a Selinum tuberosum, sive Buselini speciem, as
named by Honor. Bellus, which seems to be the
first mention of the true celeriac that I find, as the earlier references quoted may possibly refer to
the root of the ordinary sort although I think not, for at this date the true celery had scarcely been sufficiently developed.
In 1729, Switzer describes the plant in a book devoted to this and other novelties, but adds that he had never seen it; and this indicates it was little known in England at this date, for he adds that the gentleman, who had long been an importer of curious seeds, furnished him with a supply from
Alexandria.
It is again named in England in 1752, 1765 and by succeeding writers, but is little known even at
the present time. It is described by McMahon for American gardens in 1806.
In France and Germany it is commonly employed as a vegetable and as a salad.
It is even cultivated in the Mauritius.
Celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, is called,
- in France, celeri- rave ;
- in Germany, Knoll-Sellerie ;
- in Flanders and Holland, Knoll- Seldcrii ;
- in Denmark, Knold-Selleri ;
- in Italy, sedano-rapa ;
- in Spain, apio-nabo, apio-rabano.
Celery. Apium graveolens L.
I have previously given the history of celery in the American Naturalist for July, 1886.
I can add only a few references to those therein given. "Le Jardinier Solitaire" (1612) gives directions for the cultivation of " Celery" in France, and Mentzel gives the word " Sellerrey" in Belgium, and "Sellerey oder Aeppich" in Germany, with " Tabernaemontanus" as a reference.
<< LINK - From NPR
Now, one edition of "Tabernsemontanus" was published in 1588, and if this reference be correct we are able to carry the use of the word celery into the sixteenth century. Albertus Magnus, who lived in the thirteenth century, evidently speaks of the wild plant when he calls it aquatic, but describes characters which apply to the smallage by adding that it has a concave foot-stalk, recumbent and white. In China, at the present time, the name of celery is
Ch'in ts'ai.
Smallage definition, the celery, Apium graveolens, especially in its wild state.
Chard. Beta vulgaris L.
The chard was the Beta of the ancients and of the middle ages. The red chard was noticed by Aristotle about 350 B.C. Theophrastus knew two kinds, — the white, called Sicula, and the black (or dark green), the most esteemed.
Dioscorides also records two kinds. Eudemus, quoted by Athenaeus (the second century), names four, — the sessile, the white, the common, and the dark, or swarthy.
Among the Romans the chard finds frequent mention, as by Columella, Pliny, Palladius, Apicius,
- In China it was noticed in writings of the seventh or eighth century, the fourteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries; in Europe, by all the ancient herbalists.
- The chard has no Sanscrit name.
- The ancient Greeks called Mentzel, the species teutlion ;
- the Romans, beta;
- the Arabs, selg ;
- the Nabathean, silq.
Albertus Magnus, in the thirteenth century, uses the word acelga, — the present name in Portugal and Spain.
The modern names are :
- French, poiree ;
- German, Beisskohl, Beete, Mangold;
- Flanders and Holland, snij beet ;
- Denmark, Mad bede ;
- Italy, bieta befitola ;
- Spain, bleda and acelga;
- in China, tien ts'ai
The wild form — Beta maritima L. — is found in the Canary Isles, the whole of the Mediterranean region as far as the Caspian, Persia, and Babylon; perhaps even in Western India, as also about
the sea-coasts of Britain. It has been sparingly introduced into kitchen-gardens for use as a chard.
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| Vilmorin |
The red, white, and yellow forms are named from quite early times; the red by Aristotle, the white and dark green by Theophrastus and Dioscorides. In 1596, Bauhin names the dark, the red, the white, the yellow, the beet with a broad stalk, and the sea-beet. These forms, while, the types can be yet recognized, yet have changed their appearance in our cultivated plants, a greater compactness
and development being noted as arising
from the selection and cultivation which has been so generally accorded in recent times.
Vilmorin describes for varieties the white,
the Swiss, the silver, the curled Swiss, and
the Chilian chards.
To this we may add less improved forms,
such as the sea-beet.
Sea-Beet. Beta sylvestris spontanea marina.
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| Flora Batava. Volume 3 (1814) |
The leaves form an excellent chard, and in Ireland are collected from the wild plant and used for
food, and in England the plant is sometimes
cultivated in gardens.
This form has been ennobled by careful culture,
continued until a mangold was obtained.
White, or Common Beet.
- Beta alba lactucae & rumicis folio, etc. Adv., 1570, 93.
- B. alba vel pallescens, quam Cicla officin. Bauh., Pin., 1623, 118.
- White Beet. Ray, 1686, 204.
- Beta cicla. L., Sp., 1774, 322.
- Common White-Leaved. Mawe, 1778.
- White-Leaved. McMahon, 1806, 187.
- Spinach-Beet. Loudon, 1860.
- Poiree blonde ou commune. Vilm., 1883, 421.
This beet, a native of Sicily, near the sea-coast, as well as the shores of Spain and Portugal, was introduced into England in 1570. It seems closely allied to the Swiss chard.
Swiss Chard.
- Beta alba. Gerarde, 1597, 251.
- The Sicilian Broad-Leaved Beet. Ray, 1686, 205.
- White Beet. Townsend, 1726.
- Chard, or Great White Swiss Beet. Mawe, 1778.
- Swiss, or Chard Beet. Mill. Diet, 1807.
- Szin'ss Chard, or Silver Beet. Buist, 1851.
- Silver-Leaf Beet. Burr, 1863, 292.
- Poiree a carde blanche. Vilm., 1883, 421.
This is deemed by Ray to have been known to Gerarde (1597), for Gerarde, in his "Herbal,"
indicates the sportive character of the seed as to color, and mentions a height which is only
attained by this plant. He calls it "another sort hereof that was brought unto me from beyonde the
seas," and particularly notices the great breadth of the stalk; but the color particularly noticed is
the red sort. Ray gives as a synonyme Beta italica Parkinson, 1629 or 1640.
It is quite variable in the stalks, according to the culture received.
 |
| Silver-Leaf Beet. |
Silver-Leaf Beet.
- Poiree blonde a carde blanche. Vil., 1883.
A lighter green form of the Swiss chard, as described by Vilmorin, but with shorter and much
broader stalk. It seems to be a variety within the changes which can be effected by selection and
culture, and perhaps can be referred to the Chilian type.
Curled Swiss Chard.
- Curled-Leaf Beet. Burr, 1863, 291.
- Beck's Seakale Beet. Gard. Chron., 1865.
- Poiree a carde blanche frisee. Vilm., 1883.
Evidently a form of the Swiss, the stalks broader, the leaves blistered and curled.
Chilian Beet.
This form is usually grown for ornamental purposes, for which they are very efficient. The stalks are often very broad and twisted, and the colors very clear and distinct, the leaf puckered and blistered as in the Curled Swiss.
In the Gardeners' Chronicle' (1844) it is said that these ornamental plants were introduced to Belgium some ten or twelve years previously. "It is yellow or red, and varies in all the shades of these two colors." In 1651 J. Bauhin speaks of two kinds of chard as novelties, — the one, white, with broad ribs; the other, red. He also speaks of a yellow form, differing from the kind with a boxwood-yellow root. In 1655, Lobel describes a chard with yellowish stems, varied with red.
The forms now found are described by their names:
- Crimson-Veined Brazilian,
- Golden-Veined Brazilian,
- Scarlet- Ribbed Chilian,
- Scarlet- Veined Brazilian,
- Yellow-Ribbed Chilian,
- Red-Stalked, etc.
The modern chards are the broad-leaved ones, and all must be considered as variables within a type. This type may be considered as the one referred to by Gerarde in 1597, whose "seedes taken from that plant which was altogether of one colour and sowen, doth bring foorth plants of many and variable colours."
Our present varieties now come true to color in most instances, but some seed furnish an experience such as that which Gerarde records. It seems plausible that B. maritima L. is the parent form of the narrow-ribbed varieties, while B. sicla L. is the parent of the broad-stalked forms, and, judging from analogy, as well as by the descriptions of the wild plant, the prototypes of all the colors, and the smooth and blistered-formed leaves, probably can be found in nature.
Chervil. Scandix cerefolium L.
Compare Fuchs' great illustration to the much less useful stylized version published 200 years later!
The leaves of chervil are aromatic, and are much used in England for seasoning and in salads. It was mentioned as cultivated by Columella, Pliny, and Palladius, Roman authors of the first and third centuries.
It also finds description as a cultivated plant in the botanies of the sixteenth century. It was in American gardens in 1806. But two varieties are now in use, — the plain-leaved and the curled, — and these, are mentioned by Petit in France in 1826; and yet chervil is noted as one of the most widely diffused and best known of all pottage plants.
Chervil is called,
- in France, Cerfeuil ;
- in Germany, Kerbel ;
- in Flanders and Holland, Kervel ;
- in Denmark, havekjowel ;
- in Italy, cerfoglio ;
- in Spain, perifollo ;
- in Portugal, cerefolio,
Chick-Pea. Cicer arietinum L.
Now this is a feminine illustration...
This vegetable is a favorite with southern nations, and finds occasional culture among the recent emigrants to the United States, or by their descendants. While not grown on a large scale in the United States, it forms an article of extended culture in the Iberian peninsula, and in India, Egypt, Greece, etc.
The shape of the seed, singularly resembling a ram's head while in an unripe state, may account for its being regarded as unclean by the Egyptians of the time of Herodotus. It was in common use in ancient Rome, and varieties are mentioned by Columella and Pliny, the latter naming the white and the black, the Dove, or Venus pea, and many kinds differing from each other in size.
Albertus Magnus, in the thirteenth century, mentions the red, the white, and the black sorts, and this mention of colors is continued by the herbalists of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. The white chick-pea is the sort now generally grown in France, where the dried seed find large use in soups. The red variety is now extensively grown in the Eastern countries, and the black sort is described as more curious than useful.
(oh yeah?... http://spicediary.com/2011/12/spicy-indian-black-chickpea-curry/ )
Under the hot climate of India the plant secretes an acid, which the natives collect by spreading a cloth overnight on the plant and wringing out the dew in the morning; this they use for vinegar or for forming a cooling drink. The multitude of the vernacular names of the chick-pea, and their distribution, indicate the presence of numerous varieties and an extended use.
The European names are,
- in English, chick-pea, Egyptian pea, horse-gram, [in India] Bengal gram;
- in France, pois chiche, garvance, cafe frangais, ceseron, cicerolle, ciseran, garvane, pisette, pois becu, pois blanc, pois ciche, pois cornu, pois de brebis, pois gris, pois pointu, pois de Malaga, tete de belier
- in Germany, Kitchererbse ;
- in Italy, cece ;
- in Spain, garbansos ;
- in Portugal, chicaro, grao de bico ;
- in Greece, hrobithi.
In the extra European countries it has received, among others, the following names :
- in Arabic, the greenTseeded sort, the plant, tnalaneh ; the dry seed, homos, hints al-koular ;
- in Bengali, chala, boot, chuna-batoola? boot-kaley ;
- in Egypt, homos;
- in Hebrew, ketsech;
- in Hindustani, but, hurbury, chenna ;
- in Malay, kadala;
- in Persia, nakhuda ;
- in Sanscrit, chanaka, sanakha, harimanthaka ;
- in Tamil, cadalie, kadalai;
- inTelegu, senegaloo, 4senegalu, senaga ;
- n Burmah, ku-lu-bai.
Chickling Vetch. Lathyrus sativus L.
This in many regions is rather a forage-plant than a vegetable ; but in the south and southwest parts of Europe, as in Italy and Spain, and also in Turkey and India, as well as elsewhere, it is grown for the use of the seed in soups, etc., as well as in the manner of green peas.
It has been cultivated in Southern Europe from a remote period, and finds mention by Columella and Palladius. According to Heuze, it came from Spain into France in 1640; but this must refer to some variety, for it appears to have been well known to the herbalists of the sixteenth century, as by Dodonaeus in 1556, and others. It was included among American vegetables by Burr in 1863, who mentions two varieties, — the one with dun, the other with white, seeds. This latter form was mentioned by Bauhin in 1623.
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| Botanical Magazine. -- Vol. 3-4 (1790/91) |
The European names are,
- in France, gesse cultivee, gesse blanche, lentille d'Espagne, dent-de-brebis, pois breton, pois carre ;
- in Germany, essbare Platterbse, weisse Platterbse, deulsche Richer ;
- in Flanders, platte erwt ;
- in Holland, peid envt, zviken ; in Spain, arveji;
- in Spanish America, mnelas ;
- in Italy, cicerchid cichero?
In extra European languages :
- in Bengali, khesaree, teora ;
- in Egypt, gilban ;
- in Guzerat, lang ;
- in Hindustani, kussoor ;
- in Persian, masang ;
- in Sindh, matar?
Chicory. Cichorium intybus L.
The wild chicory has been used for time immemorial as a salad-plant, and, forced in darkness, affords the highly-esteemed vegetable in France known as barbe-de-capuchin. It has also large-rooted varieties, and these, when treated in like manner, form the vegetable known in Belgium as witloof.
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| Large rooted - Fuchs, 1542 |
Whether the chicory was cultivated by the ancients I think there is reason to doubt, although they knew the wild plant and its uses as a vegetable. It is not mentioned in the descriptive list of garden vegetables in use in the thirteenth century, as given by Albertus Magnus. Ruellius, in 1536, mentions two kinds, but does not imply cultivation ; nor does Fuchsius, in 1542, who likewise names two kinds, one of which is our dandelion.
Above: Camerarius' De Plantis Epitome vtilissima Petri Andreae Matthioli Senensis, Medici Excellentissimi, &c. : Compendium In Eorum Maxime Gratiam Atque vsum adornatum, qui plantis conquirendis & indagandis student; ac, quae de eis plurib. a Matthiolo in Dioscoridem disputantur, breuiter descripta simul depictaq[ue] oculis subijcere cupiunt Lovely!
It is treated of by
- Tragus in 1552;
- Matthiolus, 1558;
- the "Adversaria," 1570;
- Lobel, 1576;
- Camerarius, 1586;
- Dalechampius, 1587;
- Gerarde, 1597;
but no mention of cultivation.
Although not mentioned in Lyte's translation of Dodonseus (1586) as cultivated, yet in Dodonaeus's
"Pemptades" (1616) it is said not only to occur wild throughout all Germany, but to be cultivated in gardens; and this is the first mention of culture that I note.
In 1686, Ray says it is sown in gardens and occurs wild in England, and the seed occurs among seedsmen's supplies in 1726.
At the present time chicory is grown for the use of its leaves in salads, and for its root to be used as an "adulterant for coffee. The smooth, tapering root, which seems such an improved form in our modern varieties, is beautifully figured by Camerarius in 1586.
The common chicory grown for salads is but the wild plant little changed, and with the divided leaves as figured by the herbalists. The entire leaved form, with also a tendency to a red midrib, also occurs in nature, and may be considered as the near prototype of the Madgeburg large-rooted, and of the red Italian sorts. The variegated chicory, the curled-leaved, and the broad-leaved may have their prototypes found in nature if sought for, but at present must remain unexplained.
We may remark, however, that variation in nature is of very common occurrence, and quote from Vilmorin that M. Jacquin has fixed from the wild sort varieties, which he has named the demi-fine ; demi-fine a feuilles jaunes ; demi-blonde, forme de laitue pommee ; brune, forme de laitue pommee. These varieties are not now, however, in gardens.
The common, the spotted-leaved, and the large-rooted were in French culture in 1826. The chicory, or succory, is called,
in France, chichoree sauvage, chicoree amere, chicoree barbe de capucin ;
in Germany, wilde or bitter e Cichorie ;
in Denmark, Sichorie ;
in Italy, cicoria selvatica, radicchio radicia;
in Spain, Achicoria amarga agreste ;
in Portugal, chicoria;
in Arabic, hinduba, Shikorieh? Chikourieh ;
in Persia, Kasnee ;
at Constantinople, korla by the Greeks;
in Japan, kio, tsisa.
(To be continued.)
