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were used by the white settlers, mixed with molasses and parched 
corn or rice, to make a very wholesome and palatable beer. The 
rootstocks of S. Bona-nox L., S. glauca Walt., S. rotundifolia L. 
and S. Beyrichi Kunth (S. auriculeta Chap.) were indiscriminately 
collected and used with those of the last. 
Another eastern plant of this family, but of little consequence, 
is the Indian Cucumber-root (Medeola Virginiana \..) with hori- 
zontal yellowish rhizome, 1 to 2 inches long, having a sweetish 
cucumber-like taste and more medicinal than nutritious. ; 
The Star Tulips and Mariposa Lilies of the genus Calochortus 
so abundant and conspicuous in the Pacific States, have nearly all 
edible farinaceous bulbs. The best known, as food plant, is C. 
Nuttalla T. & G. which extends eastward to the Rocky Moun- 
tains and even the prairie region beyond; it is the “Sego” 
of the Indians and Mormons; the bulb is about the size of a wal- 
nut, very palatable and nutritious, and is still used not only by 
Indians but by hunters and miners as well. 
Brodiza Smith, a California genus, has likewise edible bulbs ; 
those of B. congesta Smith and B. capitata Benth., although small, 
are agreeably sweet and mucilaginous. 
Hesperocallis uudulata Gray, the Desert Day Lily, grows in the 
Colorado and Mohave deserts; it has a deep-buried ovate-globose 
bulb 1 to 4 inches in diameter, with firm palatable and refreshing 
flesh, quite welcome to Indians and explorers in the absence of 
other vegetables. 
Chlorogalum pomeridianum Kunth., of California, is better 
known as a soap and a fiber plant than as a food plant, but it is 
also sometimes ealled, and for good reason, “ Wild Potato.” The 
egg-shaped bulb is 1 to 3 inches in diameter and about 4 long, 
thickly covered with coarse brownish fibres resembling the coir of 
the cocoa-nut. A chemical investigation by Prof. Trimble 
showed 1.87 per cent. of saponin (or 6.95 in the absolutely dry 
bulb), as well as glucose, saccharose and mucilage. The large 
_ proportion of saponin accounts for the use of the bulb as a valued 
substitute for soap. Cooking eliminates all acrid and injurious 
_ substances, rendering the bulb good, wholesome food with much 
the taste of camas. — 
_ In the Sedge Family (CypEracea), we only find 2 or 3 food 
