EXHIBITS

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Madde Apples, Gerard's Herbal: The General History of PlantsUtah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, HATCH 39&40

Madde Apples

(Malainsana)

The Madde Apple plant has many branches, broad dark brown-green leaves, and white or purple star-shaped flowers.  The fruit is typically yellow, white, or brown, and can grow from the size of a swan's egg to that of a cucumber, given an optimal environment.  Madde Apples grow mostly in sandy fields in Egypt.  Two varieties of these Apples are venomous and can be deadly, but in the hands of a skilled cook, the danger is averted.  Many people enjoy eating Madde Apples boiled with fat or roasted in oil or ashes.  It is often eaten with vinegar, pepper, salt pickle, or with scraped cheese.

[1] John Gerard, The General History of Plants, ed. Thomas Johnson, (Adam Islip Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, 1633) 345