The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-09-06
FEASTS OF FLOWERS
BUDS AND BLOSSOMS THAT ARE
REGULARLY USED FOR FOOD.

cites of Delicate and Succulent
Flowers Play an Important Part
In the Dietary OF Mankind.
Though the fact is we'll known that
flowers are used extensively as medl-
cine, it comes as 4 surprise to hear
that tons Of delicate flowers are regular
II used as food. In many parts Of In
dia the flowers of a saponaceous tree,
Bassia latifolia or mahwah, form a
really important article of diet. These
blossoms, which are succulent and very
nourishing and numerous, fall at night
in large quantities from the trees 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 when in expedi-
tions for the punishment or subjection
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 subnnis-
sion. Ar ardent spirit like whisky is
distilled from these flowers and is con-
sumed In large quantities by the ma
tives of Guzerat, etc. The Parsees and
hill people eat these flowers both raw
and cooked and often with tie add1-
ton Of grain and also make sweetmeats
Of them. A single tree affords from
200 to 400 pounds Of blossoms.
In A1alabar and Mysore another spe-
cies abounds, Bassia longifolia, the
flowers Of which are used in a similar
manner by the natives. They are Ell
ther dried and roasted and then eaten
OF are bruised and boiled to 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 acrld taste
and are sometimes mixed with salads
or made into fritters with batter, and
the flower buds are picked with vine
gar. The flowers Of the American spe-
cies, C. canadensis, the red bud, are
used by the French Canadians IN sal
ads and pickles. The flowers Of the
AbutiIon esculentum are used IN Bra
I'll as boiled vegetables. The flowers Of
Mo4ingas pterygQsperme, the horserad-
ist tree, are eaten by the natives Of In
dia in their curry.
The young calices of Dllenia scara-
bella and D. speciosa, which are sWoll-
en- and feshy, have pleasantly acid
taste and are used by the inhabitants
Of Chittagong and Bengal in their cur
ries and also for making iellies. The
large, snowy flowers Of the nasturtum.
Tropaeonum majus, are frequently
used along with the young leaves ID
salad. They have warm taste not IN
like that Of the common cress, and 1t
is from this similarity that the plant
has gained the name Of nasturtlum.:
The hill people Of India are fond OF
the flowers Of the rhododeIdron arbo-
reun, and even the European visitors
use them for making jelly. Yet poison
Gus properties are ascribed to the spe-
cies Of this genus, and it has been said
that the r. ponticum was the plant
from whose flowers the bees Of Pontus
gathered the honey which produced
the extraordinary symptoms Of poison
inc described as having attacked the
Greek soldiers in the famous retreat OF
the ten thousand.
The flower buds Of the Zygophyllun
fabago are used as substitute for ca
pers, and the flowers Of Melianthus
major, a plant Of the same order, are
so full Of honey that the natives OF
Good Hope, where the plant groWs
wild, obtain it for food by shaking the
tree, when it falls In q heavy shower.
Cocoloba unifera is remarkable from
the popularity Of the calyx, which be-
comes pulpy and Of violet color,
whence the plant gets its name OF SEA-
side grape. The flower stalks Of the
Hovenia dulcis become extremely large
and succulent and are used in China as
g fruit. They resemble a ripe pear IN
favor. Some tribes Of the American
Indians cook and eat the flowers Of the
pumpkin, and the Aztecs consider them
q greater delicacy.
The flower clusters Of the caulifower,
which form themselves into f1rm
cluster or head varying from four to
eight or more inches across, become
the edible portion Of one Of the great
est Of vegetable delicacies. In this it
differs greatly from ali other members
Of the cabbage family, whose leaves
and stalks are used for culinary pur-
poses. The flower buds Of the Capparis
spinosa, a plant which grows on the
walls in southern 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 COM
merce are the unexpanded buds OF
Caryophyllus aromanticus, 2 small ey-
ergreen, native Of the Moluccas, but
cultivated in many parts Of the east
and West Indies The flower buds
Of Calytranthes aromaticus, another
plant Of the same order, is a very good
substitute for cloves. The flower buds
Of the myrtle and also the berries were
eaten as spices by the ancients and are
still in use in Tuscany. Long pepper is
furnished by the immature spikes OF
the Chayica roxburghii, which are
gathered and dried in the sun. In
chemical composition and quality it re
sembles ordinary black pepper and