Horticultural Division. 



A NEW FOOD VJ^K^T.— Stachys Floridana* 



Two years ago, Dr. Erwin F. Smith, of Washington, sent us a curi- 

 ous tuber which he picked up on the sea coast in Florida, For two 

 years an interesting progeny has been grown from this tuber, which 

 proves to be Stachys Floridana, a plant not before introduced to culti- 

 vation, so far as I know. In general appearance, the plant is much like 

 the Chorogi or Stachys Sieholdii which is sold as an esculent by the 

 seedsman, and a detailed report of which was made from this station 

 two years ago.f It differs from the Chorogi, amongst other things, in 

 its more slender habit, smoothness, and its long-stalked cordate leaves. 

 The tubers are produced as freely as in that species and are generally 

 somewhat larger. The illustration shown herewith is a life-size picture 

 of the greater portion of a tuber, which, however, was rather above the 

 average size. The tubers commonly reach the length of four to six 

 inches, and the joints are of nearly uniform thickness. The flavor is 

 fully equal to the Chorogi, and we sometimes think it better, being per- 

 haps, somewhat more crisp and brittle. The plant has not yet been 

 grown in the open ground, but we now have sufficient stock to make 

 the experiment the coming season. I expect that the plant will be able 

 to endure our winters with the protection of a mulch, for tubers that 

 have been frozen grow readily. There is every pro.spect that this inter- 

 esting species will add another attractive vegetable to our gardens. 



Stachys Floridana is known to occur only in eastern Florida, and it 

 is one of the comparatively little known plants of the genus. Chap- 

 man, in his Flora of the Southern United States, calls it an annual, but 

 Gray describes it as producing " a monilifoi-m tuber of two or three 

 inches in length." 



Gray says that the plant is " barely a foot high " but under cultiva- 

 tion it grows to the height of two feet. • 



* Stachys Floridana, Shuttleworth, MSS. ; Bentham, D. C. Prodr . xii. 478 

 (1848). 



fBuUetin 37, p. 894. 



