Asarabacca (Asarum europeaum) is a creeping evergreen perennial of the family Aristolochiaceae found in Europe. It has short stems, usually with just two kidney- shaped, dark glossy green leaves, their stalks much longer than their blades. Solitary, brownish, tubular flowers are borne at the end of branches between April and May. Both the leaves and root were formerly used as an emetic. It entered into the composition of medicated snuffs recommended in cases of headache. Research Asarabacca
Capsicum is a genus of tender annual South American plants of the family Solanaceae. They have straight, woody stems and single, star-shaped, white flowers in the axils of the leaves, a wheel-shaped corolla, and a many-seeded berry. The flowers are followed by juiceless berries or pods, which vary in shape and size. They are green at first and change to red, yellow or purple. They contain many flat, kidney-shaped, white seeds, which are very hot tasting. Kinds that are commonly grown are varieties of Capsicum frutescens, which are the Peppers grown in the vegetable garden and include those from which red pepper, cayennepepper, Tabasco and paprika are made.
In tropical countries it is a perennial and will form a shrub as high as two meters, but when it is grown in gardens it is treated as an annual and is raised from seeds every year. Capsicum frutescens grossum, the Sweet or Bell Pepper, is a popular vegetable. When the fruit is ripe it is red or yellow, but it's used as a vegetable in the green stage. Research Capsicum
The Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) is a small evergreen tree found in the Caribbean. It's fruit is called the cashew-nut, and is small, kidney-shaped, ash-grey and contains an acrid juice. Its noxious property is destroyed by roasting after which it is deemed a great delicacy. Research Cashew
Cotton is the name given to the soft cellular hairs which encircle the seeds of plants of the genus Gossypium, natural order Malvaceae. The genus is indigenous to both the Old and the New World, and the plants are now cultivated all over the world within the limits of thirty degrees north and south of the equator. All the species are perennial shrubs, though in cultivation they are sometimes treated as if they were annuals. They have alternate stalked and lobed leaves, large yellow flowers, and a three or five celled capsule, which bursts open when ripe through the middle of the cell, liberating the numerous black seeds covered with the beautiful filamentous cotton.
The North American cotton is produced by Gossypium bartadense, and two well-marked varieties are cultivated, the long-staple cotton, which has a fine soft silky fibre, about five centimetres long, and the short-staple cotton, which has a fibre little over three centimetres long adhering closely to the seed. The long-staple variety known as Sea Island cotton holds the first place in the market. It is grown in some of the southern states of America, especially on islands bordering the coast.
The cotton grown in South America is obtained from Gossypium peruvianum, called also kidney cotton. The indigenous Indian species is Gossypium herbaceum, which yields a short-stapled cotton. It is grown throughout the Mediterranean region as well as in Asia.
The mode of cultivation is traditionally as follows: The seeds are sown in the spring in drills of about a metre in width, the plant appearing above ground in about eight days afterwards. The rows of young plants are then carefully weeded and hoed, a process which requires to be repeated at two or three subsequent periods. No hoeing takes place after the flowering has commenced, from which a period of seventy days generally elapses until the ripening of the seed. To prevent the lustre of the cotton wool from being tarnished, the pods must not remain ungathered longer than eight days after coming to maturity. The cotton wool is collected by picking with the fingers the flakes from the pods, and then spreading out to dry, an operation which requires to be thoroughly performed. The cotton now comes to be separated from the seeds, a process formerly effected by manual labour, but which since the late 19th century is generally accomplished by machinery. After being cleansed from the seeds, the cotton wool is formed into bales, and is now ready for delivery to the manufacturer.
Cotton has been cultivated in India and the adjacent islands from time immemorial. It was known in Egypt in the 6th century before the Christian era, but was then probably imported from India. It was not until a comparatively late period that the nations of the West became acquainted with this useful commodity, and even then it appears only to have been used as an article of the greatest luxury. The introduction of the cotton-shrub into Europe dates from the 9th century, and was first effected by the Spanish Moors, who planted it in the plains of Valencia. Cotton manufactories were shortly afterwards established at Cordova, Granada, and Seville; and by the 14th century the cotton stuffs manufactured in Granada had come to be regarded as superior in quality to those of Syria. About the 14th century cotton thread began to be imported into England.
In China the cotton-shrub was known at a very early period, but cotton does not appear to have been turned to any account as an article of manufacture until the 6th century of the Christian era, nor was it extensively used for that purpose until nearly the middle of the 14th century. In the New World the manufacture of cotton cloth appears to have been well understood by the Mexicans and Peruvians long before the advent of Europeans. It was planted by the English colonists of Virginia in 1621, but only as an experiment, and the amount produced was long very small. About 1780-1790 the British West Indies supplied Britain with most of its raw cotton, other sources being Asia Minor and the Levant, Brazil, and the East Indies. The United States then began to export cotton in large quantities, and soon outdistanced all other countries, though much cotton is also exported from India and Egypt. Research Cotton
Dolichos is a genus of twining, leguminous plants of the sub-order Papilionaceae, mostly natives of tropical countries, where many of the species yield edible seeds, for example the soy bean. Dolichos sesquipedalis, which is also grown in the south of France, has pods a foot in length and containing seven to ten kidney-shaped seeds. Dolichos lignosus is one of the most common kidney beans in India. Dolichos tuberosus of Martinique has a fleshy tuberous root which is an article of food. Research Dolichos
French Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a twining annual herb of the family Leguminosae with alternate leaves on footstalks composed of three oval pubescent folioles. The seeds are shaped rather like a kidney, and from this the plant gets an alternative name, the Kidney Bean, it is also known as the Haricot Bean. Research French Beans
Herb-Robert (Geranium Robertianum) is a common British annual or biennialherb of the Geranium family with an unpleasant scent and thin, reddish glandular stems that branch stiffly. The leaves are alternate, long-stemmed and are palmately divided into between three and five lobes, which are in turn divided twice over. The flowers are reddish-violet in colour, long-stalked and usually grow in pairs. It is astringent, diuretic and aromatic and is used in medicine externally to treat skin disorders and septic cuts, and internally for diarrhoea, kidney and bladder disorders. Research Herb-Robert
Kidney vetch or Lady's fingers (Anthyllis vulneraria) is a perennialherb of the order Leguminosae. It is a native of Europe, western Asia and north Africa. Kidney vetch has a woody rootstock and numerous leafy stems. The leaves are divided into pairs of slender, rectangular leaflets, and the yellow flowers are clustered in a head. The calyx is covered with silky wool and the leaves with silky hairs. Research Kidney Vetch
Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) is an annual herb of the family Leguminosae native to India. It has downy, furrowed stems, and lance-shaped leaves clothed with silvery-white hairs. The yellow flowers resemble those of the broom plant, and form long sprays at the end of the branches. The flowers are succeeded by pods containing kidney-shaped seeds. Research Sunn Hemp
Sweet Violet (Viola odorata) is a creeping downy perennialherb, with a rosette of kidney-shaped leaves and long rooting stolons. The stipules are ovate. There are white, blue and purple varieties, and of these there are double sub-varieties. Research Sweet Violet
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Asarabacca
