Litchi nut or leechee nut.—I am inclined to think that the affix of "nut" to this Oriental fruit is an Americanism, and not used elsewhere. There are three distinct species of this fruit known among the Chinese, under the name of Litchi, Longan or Long-yen, and Rambutan, all the product of the Nepheliums, a genus of the soapberry family (Sapindaceæ). By some of the earlier botanical works the litchi is placed either in the genus Dimocarpus or Euphoria. Within the past few years this fruit has appeared in our markets, in consequence of the increased trade with Oriental countries, and facilities for rapid transit across the continent. The litchi is a globular fruit, about one inch in diameter (Fig. 103), with a thin, chocolate-brown colored shell covered with wart-like protuberances. When fresh the shell is filled with a white, jelly-like pulp, in the center of which there is one rather large, smooth brown seed. The pulp is of a most delicious sub-acid flavor, but it is often rather dry and stale in the nuts which reach us from China and Japan. The tree producing this fruit is seldom more than twenty-five feet high, with rather sturdy twigs and branches, the leaves composed of about seven oblong pointed leaflets. This is said to be one of the most popular of Oriental fruits, and the trees would probably succeed in many of the Southern States and in California. It is now on trial in Florida, having been introduced there in 1886. It has been fruited in England many times, but always under glass, where the plants receive protection and artificial heat. A full description of this species, accompanied by a superb colored plate of the Nephelium or Dimocarpus Longana, appeared in the "Transactions of the London Horticultural Society," 1818, p. 402. There are not only a large number of species of the Nepheliums bearing edible fruit, but, as might be expected from their long and extensive cultivation, many local varieties, especially in the southern provinces of China and throughout the islands of tropical Asia. The Dawa of the Fiji islands is the fruit of N. pinnatum, a tree growing sixty feet high, and forming extensive forests on those islands. At some future time we may be receiving the dawas under the name of Fiji nuts.
Lousy nut.—See Earth chestnut.
Marking nut.—The seeds of Semecarpus Anacardium, an evergreen tree of the cashew-nut family (Anacardiaceæ), native of tropical Asia, and especially Ceylon. It has large, oblong leaves, and grows about fifty feet high, and the fruit is produced on a fleshy receptacle. The natives roast and eat these nuts, and the black juice obtained from the green fruit is used for marking cloth, hence the common name. The juice is also mixed with lime to make an excellent indelible ink, also for a kind of varnish.
Miriti nut or ita palm nut.—These are the Indian names of the fruit of a lofty palm tree, the Mauritia flexuosa, of the swamps along the Orinoco river, also in wet soils at higher elevations. This giant palm grows to a hight of a hundred and fifty feet, with an immense crown of large, fan-shaped leaves, and just beneath these the fruit appears in a pendulous cluster eight to ten feet long, containing several bushels, weighing, altogether, from one to three hundred pounds. The individual nuts are about the size of an ordinary apple, with a very smooth shell, somewhat veined or streaked. The natives of the country not only use the farinaceous kernels of these nuts as food, but obtain a saccharine material from the pith, out of which they make wine by fermentation. The petioles of the leaves also furnish them with a strong fiber, used as thread-cord, and for various other purposes.
Moreton Bay chestnut.—See Australian chestnut.
Monkey-pot nut.—See Sapucaia nut.
Myrobalan nut.—This name is applied rather indiscriminately to the fruits of several species of the genus Terminalia, which are, in the main, large trees of the Myrobalan family (Combretaceæ). They are native of India, Malay, Fiji, and, in fact, almost all the islands of the Pacific in warm latitudes. The fruits are similar to large plums, but slightly angular, containing a hard, nut-like seed. They are used principally for tanning leather, and also for making ink similar to that made from oak galls. The kernels of all the species are edible, and are eaten by the natives. In the Fiji islands the Terminalia Catappa is a favorite tree with the natives, and they plant it near the houses. The kernels of this species have the flavor of the sweet almond.
Nickar nut.—The seeds of two species of Guilandina, a genus of the bean family (Leguminosæ). They are climbing plants, with hard-wooded, prickly stems, forming almost impenetrable thickets near the seacoast in the East Indies and other tropical countries. They have become widely distributed, as the pods readily float when they drop into the water. The pods are about three inches long, very prickly, containing seeds or nuts about the size of small marbles, and exceedingly hard; but in time the water softens them, after which they sprout and grow when cast upon the shore by the waves. The two species are distinguished mainly by the color of the nuts, those of G. Bonduc being yellow, and those of G. Bonducella gray, or with a reddish tint. Of no value or use except as botanical curiosities.
Nitta or nutta nut.—The native African name of the seeds of Parkia Africana, a tree of the sensitive-tree section of the bean family (Leguminosæ). It grows about forty feet high, and has compound winged leaves. It has become naturalized in the West Indies. The pods grow in clusters, the seeds imbedded in a yellowish, sweet pulp, like the carob or St. John's bread, and the negroes are very fond of them. In the Soudan the seeds are roasted, and then allowed to ferment in water until they are soft and putrid, after which they are washed, pounded and dried, then made up into cakes to be used as a sauce for different kinds of food. It is supposed that the African traveler, Mungo Park, first brought these seeds or nuts to the notice of Europeans, and Robert Brown named the genus Parkia in his honor.
Nutmeg.—A name applied to the fruits of a large number of trees, and of different orders of plants. The true nutmegs of commerce are the fruits of trees belonging to the genus Myristica, and of the family Myristicaceæ. The oldest and best known of these is the M. fragrans, a small, widely branching tree, growing twenty to twenty-five feet high, and supposed to be indigenous to the Indian Archipelago. The fruit is about the size of an ordinary walnut, with a thick rind, which, upon opening, at maturity, discloses a reddish aril covering the nut within. This aril or husk is the mace of commerce, while the true nutmeg is the center or hard seed (nut). The Brazil nutmeg is longer than the true species, and is sold under the name of long nutmeg, and is the fruit of M. fatua. Another species, the M. otoba, is cultivated in Madagascar, but is scarcely known in commerce.
Another species, the M. sebifera, is a common tree in the forests of Guiana, North Brazil, and up into Panama. It is utilized principally for the oil extracted from the nuts, obtained by macerating them in water, the oil rising to the surface, and as it cools skimmed off.
The seeds of several species of conifers and laurels are known, either locally or in commerce, as nutmegs, or are used as a substitute for the true nutmeg. There are three different kinds of trees, native of Guiana, in addition to the one already named, the seeds of which are employed as a spice or medicine. One of these is the Acrodiclidium camara. These nuts are known in commerce as "Ackawai nutmegs," and are used mainly as a cure for diarrhœa and colic. Another is the seed of the Aydendron Cujumary tree, and they are known in commerce as "Cujumary beans," although they are not, strictly speaking, a bean, and the same is true of the so-called "Puchurim beans," from the same country, for they are the fruit of Nectandy Puchury, a small tree of the laurel family. They are used as a tonic, and considered highly stimulating.
Clove Nutmeg, or Madagascar nutmeg of commerce, is the fruit of Agathophyllum aromaticum, a small evergreen tree, indigenous to Madagascar.
Brazilian Nutmegs are the highly aromatic seeds of Cryptocarya moschata, or Atherosperma moschata of some botanists. It is a lofty tree, native of Brazil. The aromatic nuts are used as a substitute for nutmegs, but are very inferior to the genuine.
Peruvian Nutmeg, or Plum Nutmeg.—The seeds of a large evergreen tree with aromatic foliage, like our common sassafras, and for this reason is sometimes called Chilean or Peruvian sassafras. The seeds are of no more economic value than those of our native sassafras. It is known under various botanical names, but Laurelia sempervirens is, perhaps, the most familiar.
California Nutmeg, or Stinking Nutmeg, is the nut-like seed of Torreya Californica, a small tree of the yew family (Taxaceæ). The fruit is from an inch to an inch and a half long, with a fleshy rind enclosing a hard, long nut, which is slightly grooved like a nutmeg. The fruit, leaves and wood are strongly scented, hence the name of "stinking nutmeg," or "stinking yew." Another species, the T. taxifolia, is a native of Florida.
Oil nut.—The fruit of a low-branching, deciduous native shrub, growing three to ten feet high, with alternate leaves and small greenish flowers in terminal spikes. It is the Pyrularia oleifera of Gray, and Hamiltonia oleifera of Muhlenberg. The fruit is in the form of a pear-shaped drupe, about an inch long, the small seed or nut with an oily kernel of strong acrid taste; of no value. This shrub is found on shady banks in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and southward into Georgia.
Paradise nut.—See Sapucaia nut.
Peanut, groundnut, goober.—The well-known fruit of Arachis hypogæa, a low-growing annual belonging to the pulse or pea family (Leguminosæ), supposed to be a native of South America, but now extensively cultivated in nearly all semi-tropical countries and wherever the summers are long enough to insure the ripening of the seeds. Extensively cultivated in Virginia, south and westward. Too well known to require any further comment or notice here.
Pecan nut.—See Chap. VII.
Pekea nut.—See Souari nut.
Peruvian nut.—See Nutmegs.
Physic nut.—The seeds of Jatropha Curcas, a small tree of the spurgewort family (Euphorbiaceæ). It is native of some of the West Indies and warmer parts of South America, but now cultivated in other tropical countries for its seeds, which yield an oil used for the same purposes as castor oil, but rather more powerful and drastic. The seeds have a nutty flavor, but are rather dangerous if eaten in any considerable quantities, and death has been known to follow excess in this direction.
Physic nut.—In "Bartram's Travels," he refers to a seed or nut of a plant he found growing in Florida under this name, p. 41, as follows: "... some very curious new shrubs and plants, particularly the physic nut or Indian olive. The stems arise, many from a root, two or three feet high; the leaves sit opposite, on very short petioles; they are broad, lanceolate, entire and undulated, having a smooth surface, of a deep green color. From the bosom of each leaf is produced a single oval drupe, standing erect on long slender stems; it has a large kernel and thin pulp. The fruit is yellow when ripe, and about the size of an olive. The Indians, when they go in pursuit of deer, carry this fruit with them, supposing that it has the power of charming or drawing that creature to them, from whence, with traders, it has obtained the name of physic nut, which means, with them, charming, conjuring or fascinating."
To what kind of fruit Bartram referred under the name of "physic nut," is not certain, but his description of the plant comes very near that of the American olive (Olea Americana), but the fruit of this and other closely allied plants of the same family are not "yellow" when ripe, but purple.
Pignut, or hognut.—See chapter on Hickory.
Pine nut.—A name applied indiscriminately to the many species of pine trees (Pinus) bearing seeds large enough to be conveniently used as food. In southern Europe, and especially in Italy and the south of France, the seeds of the stone pine (Pinus Pinea) have been extensively used as food, from the earliest times down to the present day. Nearly all the ancient authors refer to them as among the valuable products of the country. Macrobius, in his story of the Saturnalia, speaks of the cones as Nuces vel Poma Pinea. These pine nuts are called Pinocchi in Italy and Sicily, and occasionally a few reach this country, where the Italian name has been corrupted into Pinolas. These seeds or nuts are used for desserts, puddings and cakes, also eaten raw at table, as with almonds. They have a slight taste of turpentine, but it is not strong enough to be at all disagreeable.
In this country we have several native species bearing very large edible seeds, and they are known in the West under the general name of Piñon, or nut pines. The best of these nuts, to my taste, are the seeds of Pinus edulis, so named by the late Dr. Engelmann, because of its large, sweet and edible seeds. It is a small, low-growing tree, more or less common on dry hills and slopes, from Colorado southward through New Mexico, and into western Texas. The seeds of Pinus Parryana and Pinus cembroides, of Arizona and Lower California, are also called Piñons, and largely gathered by the Indians. Farther east and north, we find the one-leaved pine (Pinus monophylla), and although the seeds are much smaller than those of P. edulis, they were formerly gathered in immense quantities by the Indians, to help eke out their often scanty winter store of food. Occasionally a small quantity of these pine nuts is sent to Eastern markets, but rarely, unless ordered early in the season. The trees of P. edulis and P. monophylla are perfectly hardy here, and worth cultivating for ornament, as well as their nuts, although their slow growth is a rather severe test of one's patience. Fig. 104 shows a Piñon branch.
Pistachio nut.—Historically, this is a very ancient nut, for Bible commentators claim that it is the one sent by Jacob into Egypt. It is the fruit of a small, deciduous tree of the cashew family (Anacardiaceæ), a native of western Asia, but many centuries ago it had become naturalized in Palestine and throughout the Mediterranean regions. It has shining evergreen winged leaves, and the bark on the young twigs is brown, becoming russet-colored with age. There are several different species, but the one producing the nuts of commerce is the Pistacia vera, having brownish-green flowers in loose panicles, and these are succeeded by bunches of reddish fruit, about an inch long, with an oblique or bent point. The nuts have a double shell, the outer one usually red, the inner one smooth and brittle; the kernel is pale green, sweet, and of rather pleasant taste. There are a number of varieties, differing only slightly in form and size. This nut has been cultivated sparingly in Great Britain since 1570, but the climate is not quite warm enough to insure its ripening in the open air. It would probably succeed throughout the greater part of California, as well as in the extreme Southern States, but Mr. Berckmans writes me that it is not hardy in his grounds at Augusta, Ga. There is a species of pistacia known as P. Mexicana, found in central Mexico, and extending as far north as San Diego, in California, according to the report of Dr. Cooper (Botany of California, Vol. I, p. 109).
Quandang nut.—A medium size Australian tree, the Santalum acuminatum, of the sandalwood family (Santalaceæ). It produces a plum-like fruit, which is best known in its native country as the quandang nut. It is used as a preserve, but is little known, except in or near its native habitats.
Queensland nut.—See Australian hazelnut.
Sapucaia nut.—The Brazilian name of, at least, two species of large forest trees growing in the valley of the Amazon and its tributaries. The best known of these is the Lecythis Zabucajo, a lofty tree of the myrtle family (Myrtaceæ). It is closely allied to the more common Brazil nut of commerce. The sapucaia nuts are produced in an urn-shaped, woody capsule, which has received the name of Monkey-pot, because when these capsules ripen the lid at the top is suddenly liberated, emitting a sharp sound, which, as heard by the monkeys, gives them notice that the nuts are falling, and that the first on the ground becomes the fortunate possessor of the largest number. The capsules or pots are about six inches in diameter, and the lid opening at the top about two inches. The nuts, which are packed very closely in the shell, are about one inch in diameter, and two to three in length, with a thin, brown, and very much wrinkled and twisted shell (Fig. 105). The kernel is white, sweet, oily, and somewhat more delicate in flavor than that of the common Brazil nut. In New York city these nuts are sold under the name of Paradise nuts. But this is probably only a local name, for I have been unable to find it in any botanical work. These nuts rarely come to this country in any considerable quantities; a few hundred pounds at a time would be considered a large consignment.
Sassafras nut.—See Nutmeg, Chilean.
Sassafras nut.—See Nutmeg, Puchury.
Snake nut.—A large, roundish fruit, about the size of the black walnut, the product of the Ophiocaryon paradoxum, a large tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceæ), native of British Guiana. This nut takes its name of "Snake nut," from the peculiar form of the embryo of the seed, which is curled up spirally. The Indians, thinking there must be some virtue in form, use these nuts as an antidote for snake bites, although, so far as known to science, they do not possess any medicinal properties.
Souari nut, or butternut.—This nut, like the last, is a native of British Guiana, and is the fruit of the Caryocar nuciferum, a noble tree, growing a hundred feet high, having large, broad, trifoliate leaves, resembling those of our common horse-chestnut, but not quite as broad. The flowers are very large, and, with the tube, fully a foot long, of a deep purple on the outside, and yellow within. They are composed of five thick, fleshy petals, and as showy as some of our best and brightest-colored magnolias. The flowers are produced in terminal clusters or corymbs, succeeded by a large, round, four-celled fleshy fruit five to six inches in diameter; but as some of the embryo nuts usually fail to grow, it changes the form of the fruit as it enlarges towards maturity, and only one or two of the nuts mature and ripen, very much as frequently occurs in both the sweet and horse-chestnuts. The nuts are affixed to a central axis, and are of a rounded, subreniform shape, and even flattened to an almost sharp edge on one side, and broadly truncate at the scar (hilum) where they are attached to the pericarp or central axis. The shell is of a deep brown color, embossed, as it were, with smooth tubercles. They are from two to two and a half inches or more in their broadest diameter, as shown in Fig. 106. The kernel or meat is pure white, soft, rich and oily, with a pleasant flavor. This nut is a rarity in our markets, and Mr. H. R. Davy of New York, to whom I am indebted for a specimen, as well as other rare kinds, assures me that in his forty-five years' experience as a dealer in foreign fruits and nuts, he has never known of but one lot, and that one consisted of about one-half bushel, brought into his store by a sailor, who only knew their common South American name. These nuts are more frequently seen in European seaports than in those of this country.
South Sea chestnut.—See Tahitian chestnut.
Tahitian chestnut.—The seeds of a tree known in the South Sea islands by the native name of Toi, but to botanists as Inocarpus edulis. It belongs to the bean family (Leguminosæ). The tree grows sixty to eighty feet high, and when young the stems are fluted like a Grecian column, but as they increase with age the projections extend outward, until they form a kind of buttress all around the lower part, gradually decreasing upward. This so-called chestnut tree has yellow flowers, succeeded by fibrous pods containing one large seed or nut, which, when roasted or boiled, resembles the chestnut in taste. The nuts have a different local name in almost every one of the Pacific islands where it is at all abundant.
Tavola nut.—See Myrobalan nut.
Tallow nut.—A local and nearly obsolete name for the fruit of the Ogeechee lime or sour gum tree (Nyssa capitata) of the swamps of Florida, Georgia and westward. The fruit is about an inch long, resembling a small plum, the pulp having an agreeable acid taste. Bartram, p. 94, refers to this fruit under the name of "Tallow nut," but why so called is not explained.
Tallow nut.—The fruit of the Chinese Tallow tree, Stillingia sebifera, of the spurgewort family (Euphorbiaceæ), a native of China, where it is, as well as in some of the warmer parts of America, extensively cultivated. It has been planted in a few localities in the Southern States, and appears to thrive. It is a small tree thirty to forty feet high, with rhomboid tapering leaves and a three-celled capsuled fruit, each cell containing only a single seed thickly coated with a yellow, tallow-like substance, hence its common name. This tallow or grease is used for making soap, burning in lamps, and also for dressing cloth.
Temperance nut.—An English name of cola nut.
Torrey nut.—The hard, nut-like seeds of Torreya nucifera, of Siebold, or Taxus nucifera, of Kæmpfer, and Caryotaxus nucifera, of Zuccarini, a tree native of Japan, where these nuts are eaten by the Japanese, either raw or roasted. An oil is also extracted from the nuts, for use in cooking or for burning in lamps. This Japanese tree belongs to the same genus as the so-called California nutmeg (see Nutmeg) and our Florida stinking cedar (T. taxifolia), also the great Chinese cedar (T. grandis).
Water chestnut.—Also known as water caltrops. The seeds of several species of water plants of the genus Trapa, of the evening primrose family (Onagraceæ). In southern Europe and eastward there is a species found in ponds, the seeds of which are called Jesuit chestnuts (T. natans), and in India and Ceylon a closely allied one, the Singhara-nut plant (T. bispinosa), while in Lago Maggiore there is another (T. verbanensis), but all may be varieties of one and the same species, including the Trapa bicornis, a two-horned water chestnut, extensively used in China and Japan as food under various local names. In China they are called Ling, and of late years have been occasionally imported and sold, more as curiosities than for eating. These seeds or nuts are of a dark brown color, and of the form and size shown in Fig. 107, resembling, in miniature, the skull of an ox with abbreviated horns. When fresh, the kernel is of an agreeable nutty flavor.
Water chestnut, or chinquapin.—The seeds of the large yellow water lily (Nelumbium luteum), a very common plant in small ponds in the West and South, but more rare in the East. The seeds are about the size and shape of small acorns, and produced in a large, top-shaped, fleshy receptacle. They are edible, and are supposed to have been extensively used as food by the aborigines of this country.