Delaware gazette and state journal., 1895-12-26
DINING FROM BOUQUETS.
scientInc American.

Altnougn it is we'll known that many
kinds of flowers are used in medicine,
tho fact may not be known to many
that the blossoms of certain plants are
employed as articles Of food. In many
parts Of India the flowers Of a sapota.
ceous tree tBassia lasifolia or mahwah)
form really important article Of food.
These blossoms, which are succuenr
and very numerous, fall at night in
large quantities from the tree, and are
gathered early in the morning and
eaten raw. They have sweet but
sickly taste and odor. They are like
wise dried in the sun and sold in the
bazaars The Bheels dry them and
store them as staple article of food,
and so important are they considered
for this purpose that whom in expedi-
tions for the punishment or Hubjection
OF these tribes, when unruly, a threat
is made by the invading force to cut
down their Bassia trees, the menace
most commonly insures their submis-
sion. An ardent spirit like whisky is
distilled from these flowers, and is con-
sumed in large quantities by the natives
of Guzerat, &c. The Parsees and hill
people eat the flowers both raw and
cooked, and often with the addition of
grain, and also make sweetmeats of
them. A single tree will afford from
two to 400 pounds of the flowers.
The blossoms of another species (B.
longifolia) are employed In similar
manner by the natives of Malabar and
Mysore, where it abounds. They are
either driod and roasted and then eaten,
or are bruised and boiled to a jelly and
made into small balls, which are sold
or exchanged for fish, rice and various
sorts of small grain. The flowers Of
the Judas tree (Cercis Siliquastrum}
OF Europe have an agreeable acid tasre,
and are sometimes mixed with salads
or made into fritters with batter, and
the flower buds are picked in vinegar.
The flowers of the American species
90. Canadepsisl, the red bud, are
used by the French Canadians in salads
and pickles. The flowers of the Abu-
tilon esculentum (bengao de deos) are
used in Brazil as boiled vegetable.
The flowers of Moringa pterygosperme
(the horse radish tree) are eaten by
the natives Of India in their curries.
The largo and snowy flowers Of
Tropmolum majus the Indian cress or
nasturtiums) are frequently used along
with the young leaves as salad They
have warm taste, not unlike that of
the common cress, ana il is from this
tained the name of nasturtium. The
young calices of Dillenia scrabrela and
ID. speciosa, which are swollen and
iiesby, have pleasantly acid taste,
and are used by the inhabitants of
Ohittagong and Bengal in their curries
and also for making Jelly.
Tho flowers of Rhododendron ar
boreum arc eaten by the hill people Of
India, and are made into jelly by
the European visitors Yet poisonous
properties are usually ascribed to the
species of this genus, and it has been
said that the h. Ponticum was the
plant from whose flowers the bees OF
Pontus collected the honey that pro-
dueed the extraordinary symptoms of
poisoning described as having attacked
the Greek soldiers in the famous re-
treat Of the 10, 600 Tho flower buds Of
Iygophyllum Fahago are used as sub
stitute for capers, and the flowers of
Melianthus major, plant Of the same
order, arc so full Of honey that the
natives of Good Hope, whore tho plant
grows wild, obtain it for food by shak-
ing the branches, when it falls in a
heavy shower. Coccoloba urifera is re-
markable from the peculiarity Of the
calyx, which becomes pulpy and Of q
violet color, whence the plant is called
the seaside grape. This pulpy calyx
has an agreeable acid flavor and is
edible. The flower stalks of Hovenia
dulcis become extremely large and sue
culent, and are used in China as a
iruit. 1t is said that in flavor they
resemble ripe pear The flowers of
the pumpkin we're cooked and eaten by
some OF the tribes of the American In.
;lians, especially by the Aztecs, by
whom they were highly esteemed. The
rauliiiower, which has been known
from remote antiquity, differs in re-
narkable manner from all the other
varieties Of the cabbage tribe, whose
leaves and stalks alone are used for
culinary purposes. Instead Of the latter
being used, the flower buds and heshy
flower stalks, which form themselves,
into firm cluster or head varying
from four to eight or more inches in
| diameter, here become tho edible por-
| tion and ono OF the greatest of vegetable
| 1elicacies, Tho. flower buds of Cap
paris spinosa, a plant which grows on
| walls, &c., in the south of Europe, are
| picked in vinegar in Italy and form
| what are commonly known as capers.
| These are chiefly imported from Sicily,
| though the plant is largely cultivated
in some parts of France. The cloves
| of commerce are the uneXpanded Hover
buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus tMyr.
tacen), small evergreen, native Of tho
Moluccas, bit cultivated in several
parts of the East and West Indies. Be
fore the expansion of the flowers, which
are produced in branched panicles at
| the extremity of the branches and are
of delicate peach color, the buds
are collected by hand, or else sheets
and mats are spread under the tree and
the buds brought down by beating it
with sticks. They are cleaned and then
dried in the sun. A uniform brown
color is impaired by slightly smoking
thom over wood fire. The flower
buds of Calyptranthes aromaticus, an
other plant OF the same odor, may be
atlvantageously substituted. The flower
| nuds and the berries OF the myrtle
| (Myrtus communis were eaten as
| spices by the ancients, and are still
used in Tuscany instead Of pepper.
d.ung pepper is furnished by the i'm
mature spikes of flowers of Chavica
Roxburghii, which are gathered and
dried in tho sun. In chemical COM
position and qualities it resembles
ordinary black pepper and contains
| piperine.