The name _lubia_ is used by the Berbers, unchanged, and by the Spaniards as _alubia_ for the common haricot, _Phaseolus vulgaris_. Although _Phaseolus_ and _Dolichos_ are very similar, this is an example of the little value of common names as a proof of species. _Loba_ is, as we have seen, one of the Hindustani names for _Phaseolus vulgaris_,[1734] and _lobia_ that of _Dolichos sinensis_ in the same language.[1735] Orientalists should tell us whether _lubia_ is an old word in Semitic languages. I do not find a similar name in Hebrew, and it is possible that the Armenians or the Arabs took _lubia_ from the Greek _lobos_ (λοβος), which means any projection, like the lobe of the ear, a fruit of the nature of a pod, and more particularly, according to Galen, _Ph. vulgaris_. _Lobion_ (Λοβιον) in Dioscorides is the fruit of _Ph. vulgaris_, at least in the opinion of commentators.[1736] It remains as _loubion_ in modern Greek, with the same meaning.[1737] +Bambarra Ground Nut+—_Glycine subterranea_, Linnæus, junr.; _Voandzeia subterranea_, Petit Thouars. The earliest travellers in Madagascar remarked this leguminous annual, cultivated by the natives for the pod or seed, dressed like peas, French beans, etc. It resembles the earth, particularly in that the flower-stem curves downwards, and plunges the young fruit or pod into the earth. Its cultivation is common in the gardens of tropical Africa, and it is found, but less frequently, in those of Southern Asia.[1738] It seems that it is not much grown in America,[1739] except in Brazil, where it is called _mandubi di Angola_.[1740] Early writers on Asia do not mention it; its origin must, therefore, be sought in Africa. Loureiro[1741] had seen it on the eastern coast of this continent, and Petit Thouars in Madagascar, but they do not say that it was wild. The authors of the flora of Senegambia[1742] described it as “cultivated and probably wild” in Galam. Lastly, Schweinfurth and Ascherson[1743] found it wild on the banks of the Nile from Khartoum to Gondokoro. In spite of the possibility of naturalization from cultivation, it is extremely probable that the plant is wild in tropical Africa. +Buckwheat+—_Polygonum fagopyrum_, Linnæus; _Fagopyrum esculentum_, Mœnch. The history of this species has been completely cleared up in the last few years. It grows wild in Mantschuria, on the banks of the river Amur,[1744] in Dahuria, and near Lake Baikal.[1745] It is also indicated in China and in the mountains of the north of India,[1746] but I do not find that in these regions its wild character is certain. Roxburgh has only seen it in a cultivated state in the north of India, and Bretschneider[1747] thinks it doubtful that it is indigenous in China. Its cultivation is not ancient, for the first Chinese author who mentions it lived in the tenth or eleventh century of the Christian era.