THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 75 



The // istcria of our gardens is a Chinese species (//'. 

 C/iincnsis) hut the genus is found in hoth Hemispheres and 

 the American species, ll'istrria fnitrscciis, is frequenth culti- 

 vated. Ik'ing a legume it may possihly he entitled to the 

 name of "kidney hean tree" hut "virgin's hower" is surelv a 

 misUMnier. Owing to the resemhlance of Af^ios tiihcrosa to 

 the // istcria, it i> often called "wild wisteria". It is how- 

 ex er, more fre(|uently known as "ground-nut" in allusion to 

 the rounded tuhers, in no sense roots, which form part of the 

 monilliform rootstock. These tuhers are edihle and were, 

 in fact, the nr>t "])otatoes" l)rought hack from explorations 

 in the New WOrld. The Indians made regular use of them. 

 A considerahle numher of other names allude to these tuhers 

 among which are "potato i)ea", "Indian potato", "pig potato", 

 and "white ai)ple>". The plant is also known as "trailing 

 pea", "ground pea", "wild hean". and "travellers delight". 

 The last name seems like a hook name, hut the fragrant 

 chocolate colored flowers perhaps deserve it. 



Several species of Fsoralca produce edible parts, hut im- 

 like Astragalus, the edihle portions are the roots. The spe- 

 cific name of Fsoralca cscitlcnta alludes to its edihle properties 

 and among its vernacular names are "prairie apple", "i)rairie 

 turnip", "prairie potato", "Indian bread-root", "Cree potato", 

 "Missouri bread-nut" .and "tipsin" or "tipsinna". The last 

 mentioned sound supiciously like the Indi.m naine for the 

 plant. "Pomme blanche" the French for while potato. ;in<l 

 "Pomme de prairie" are self explantory. Psoralea hypoyaca 

 is also known as "Indian bread-root". Psoralea onohrychis 

 is known as "French grass" and "sain-foin psoralea". The 

 Old World "sainfoin" was Onohrychis sativa and the common 

 name which may be translated as safe or healthful hay or 

 grass was undouhtly transferred to our plant because of this 



