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edible tubers, sometimes 2 inches in diameter, in our day mostly 
used for the feeding of cattle, horses and pigs, but which were 
precious to the Indians on account of their hardiness and prolifi- 
cacy, retaining possession of the soil for many years. These 
tubers were mentioned by Champlain. in 1603 and brought to 
France by Lescarbot who, in 1612, describes them as being “as 
big as small turnips, excellent to eat, with the taste of artichoke 
but more agreeable, and multiplying in a wonderful way.” As 
the plant is native of the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi and 
does not reach any part of Canada, it is evident that the Canadian 
and New England Indians who planted it must have obtained it 
from the tribes further south and west, so that we may infer a 
rather large area of cultivation. The Jerusalem Artichoke is, so 
far, the only contribution of North America, exclusive of Mexico, 
to the vegetable garden of the world, and it can be said to be an 
aboriginal contribution. Strange to note, it is now much more 
cultivated in the Old World than on this continent. 
The allied species H. doronicoides Lam., found from Ohio to 
Missouri, and for a while erroneously thought to be the original 
of the Jerusalem Artichoke, has similar tubers although of coarser 
texture; it is quite probable it was also cultivated. The “ Indian 
Potato” of the Assiniboine tribe, mentioned by Bourgeau, is the 
tuber of a formof H. giganteus. \., which ranges. from Minnesota 
to the Saskatchawan river: 
Apios Apios (L.) MacM. (A. tuberosa Mcench), the Ground-Nut, 
has edible round or pyriform tubers strung upon long subterranean 
shoots, varying in size from a nut to a hen’s egg; they contain a 
large proportion of starch and have, when cooked, somewhat the 
taste of potatoes, being wholesome and nutritious. Rafinesque 
tells us that this plant was formerly cultivated by the Indians, and 
still by the Creeks at the time of his writing, not only for the tubers 
but also for the seeds which, he thinks, are as good as peas. It 
must have been extensively used by the eastern and southern In- 
dians as all early explorers mention it and some were saved by it 
from starvation. The tubers were the “Penacs” of the ae 
the “Hopnis” of the eastern tribes, and apparently the “Openauk 
of Hariot, seen in Virginia in 1584 and described as “a kind of 
round root, some as big as walnuts, some far greater, found in 
