Physalis, Chinese woodcut, 1582

Woodcut and explanatory verse: entry on Physalis, an edible wild plant, from Ru cao bian, (On the Consumption of Herbs), published 1582 (Wanli reign period of the Ming Dynasty). Physalis -- panqiqing or suanjiangcai can be harvested two or three times a year. It is washed and eaten fried. Ru cao bian is a non-medical text, recording 102 species of edible herbs. For each plant entry, there is an illustration accompanied by a verse, with notes on its use as a food.

Image title: Panqiqing (Physalis). Pentasyllabic verse, providing the information on this plant shown under 'Description of image content'