The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-25
FLOWERS USED As FOOD.
Important Articles Of Diet for People Of
MANY Parts Of the World.

The lotus eaters Of old, they tell us, we're
not flower eaters at all. What they did eat
was the fruit of a prickly shrub, the jujube
tree. This fruit is still eaten by the natives
in parts Of Egypt and apparently without
any remarkable effect. But "a native wine
is made from the juice. But if we must
give up the Lotophagi as flower eaters,
there are, says the London Globe, yet a NUM-
Der of blossoms which are really eaten at
the present day.
There is, for example, the globe artichoke,
the thistle which, according to Alfred de
Musset, has left the ass Is jaws to be flooded
with sauce in the Bishops silver dish"
For it is the unopened flowers OF this plant
which appear on our tables as a vegetable.
II they are left on the plant they open out
into handsome purple blossoms. And then
there is the caulifower, which DR.. johnson
is said to have called the finest flower in
the garden" This is truly a flower that is
eaten, for the snowy vegetables served at
our table are the ~unexpanded flowers Of a
variety OF cabbage.
Cloves and capers, too, are familiar iow-
ers that are eaten. The former are the
immature blossoms OF a plant of the myrtle
order, growing in the Moluccas. IL is a
beautiful evergreen tree 30 or 10 feet high,
with crimson lowers. The buds are first
light colored, then green and afterwsrd
red. At this stage they are gathered and
dried. The little round knob in the centre
of the Glove is the ~unexpanded crimson
b lesson. The familiar trimmings for
the boiled leg of mutton are the unopened
flow ers Of a spring bramblelike shrub OF
the Mediterranean region.
This trailing plant has handsome pinkish
Qhifa dnRarA with long fnRRpIa nf ataDnaDa
The youngest and tenderest buds form the
finest Capers, known as nonpafeil.. As
they grow larger and nearer Towering
they become superflne, capucin and capot
capers. II the thistle may be thought
TO have had a rise when IL left the ass's
Jaws for the silver vegetable dish, surely
We must say that the chrysanthemum,
Japan's queen of flowers, has fallen when
IL steps down from its throne to serve
itself, even with cream sauce, as a salad
on our tables! For such il the use to which
the chrysanthemum flower has been put.
Chopped very fine and setved with a sauce
made OF cream, II is a dainty and acceptable
salad.
Another queen OF flowers, the lily, con-
tributes in a more solid form to the menu
in some parts OF China. Mrs. Bishop tells
us how the dried flowers OF certain species
OF lily are largely eaten as a relish with
meats, especially pork. At Chinkiang, on
the Yangtse, these lily flowers account for
nearly One-fourteenth of the value Of the
exports.
. Hooker mentions two cases OF flower
eating IN the Himalayas. The Lepchas
eat the flower buds Of a plant OF the ginger
family. And then there IL "A plant which
the natives call Choklibi, a sort of lily of
the valley, two TO five feet high, with
crowded clusters Of bell shaped flowers.
They have discovered that the young flower
heads, sheathcd in tender green leaves,
make an excellent vegetable.
AnothermorS recent Himalayan traveller.
Col. Waddell, tells how the Lepchas cook
m cat the flowers OF species OF rhododen-
dron. A traveller in Persia, again, relates
that the Baluchis eat the pollen bearing
flowers Of a certain tree. The name OF
but travellers who have tasted the flowers
say they are unpalatable.
Again, in his journey from Tonkin1 to
India Prince Hem d'0rleans found that