Corchorus.

Major entry:

Corchorus olitorius Linn. Corchorus. Jew's Mallow.

Corchorus acutangulus Lam. Tiliaceae.

Cosmopolitan tropics. This plant is the papau ockroe of the Barbados and is eaten by the negroes as a salad and potherb.

Corchorus antichorus Raeusch.

Old World tropics. The whole plant is boiled as a potherb.

Corchorus capsularis Linn. Jute.

Cosmopolitan tropics. This plant is extensively cultivated in Bengal for its fiber, which forms one of the jutes of commerce so extensively exported from Calcutta. It was introduced into the United States shortly before 1870 and placed under experimental culture, and, in 1873, favorable reports of its success came from many of the southern states. The young shoots are much used as a potherb in Egypt and in India.

Corchorus olitorius Linn. Corchorus. Jew's Mallow.

Cosmopolitan tropics. This plant yields some of the jute of commerce but is better known as a plant of the kitchen in tropical countries. It is cultivated in Egypt, India and in France. In Aleppo, it is grown by the Jews, hence the name, Jew's mallow. The leaves are used as a potherb.

It is mentioned by Pliny among Egyptian potherbs, and Alpinus, 1592, says that no herb is more commonly used among the Egyptian foods. Forskal also mentions its cultivation in Egypt and notes it among the cultivated esculents of Arabia. In India, it occurs wild and the leaves are gathered and eaten as spinach. In tropical Africa, it is both spontaneous and cultivated as a vegetable and it is in the vegetable gardens of Mauritius. In Jamaica, the plant is frequently met with in gardens but has, in a great measure, ceased to be cultivated, although the leaves are used as a spinach. It is now cultivated in French gardens for its young leaves, which are eaten in salads. It is recorded by Burr as in American gardens in 1863 but the plant seems not to have been mentioned by other writers as growing in this country.

Corchorus procumbens Boj.

Tropical Africa. This plant was carried to the Mauritius where it is cultivated in kitchen gardens.

Corchorus siliquosus Linn. Broom-Weed.

Tropical America. This plant is called te by the inhabitants of Panama who use its leaves as a tea substitute.

Corchorus tridens Linn.

Cosmopolitan tropics. It is used as a potherb in Egypt.

Corchorus trilocularis Linn.

Old World tropics. In Arabia this plant is used as a potherb. It is used as a potherb in Sennaar and Cordova, where it is native.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.