Esculent

[T]he Lacedæmonians, […] had proclaimed that any man that would, ſhould carry in Meale, Wine, Cheeſe, and all other eſculents neceſſary for a Siege, into the Iland, appointing for the ſame a great reward of ſiluer: […]

Now may you Tranſplant moſt ſorts of Eſculent, or Phyſical plants, &c.

BLUBBER. […] either that which is of various figures, being covered with a hard callous skin, conteining an eſculent pulpy ſubstance: or that which is of a fleſhly conſiſtence, having no hard skin, being of various ſhapes and bigneſſes, ſome of them ſtinging the hand upon the touch.

[M]oſt of the fungi are indeed of a hurtful quality, and with reſpect to the whole tribe the eſculent are very few. Eſculent muſhrooms are very nutritive, very readily alcaleſcent, and more ſo without intermediate aceſcency than any other vegetable; […]

I find I incorporate gneiss and coal and long-threaded moss and fruits and grains and esculent roots, / And am stucco'd with quadrupeds and birds all over, / And have distanced what is behind me for good reasons, / And call any thing close again when I desire it.

[T]o assert that we could not breed our cart and race-horses, long and short-horned cattle, and poultry of various breeds, and esculent vegetables, for almost an infinite number of generations, would be opposed to all experience.

Nicolas Venette, French physician, refers to skirret, a plant that has esculent tubers, for its high aphrodisiac potential.

Biogeographical factors, particularly the absence of an indigenous land mammal fauna and a mild oceanic climate, are suggested as the reasons why the New Zealand flora has not provided significant esculent plants.