THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 153 



Pink Mayapple Blossoms. — Like other white flowers, the 

 may-apple or mandrake (Podophylum peltatum) occasionally 

 produces a pink variety. The Garden Magazine recently re- 

 corded a form of this kind from Iowa which, in addition to 

 being pink, is semi-double. It is interesting to note that at least 

 one of the three other species of Podophyllum, all of which are 

 natives of Asia, bears pink flowers regularly. This is Podo- 

 phyllum Emodi from the Himalayas. It is offered for sale by 

 several American nurserymen and is said to thrive in gardens 

 if given a fairly moist and peaty soil. 



An Edible Amaranth. — The amaranths are rarely re- 

 garded with much favor by the gardener. A large number are 

 pernicious weeds with no beauty of flower or foliage and the 

 occasional species that possesses some merit of this nature, like 

 the cock's comb (Cclosia), globe amaranth (Gomphrena) , and 

 prince's feather (Amaruuthus) are beautiful only by compari- 

 son with their congeners. Nor has this family much better 

 claims to usefulness. Its nearest relatives, the pigweeds or 

 goosefoots (Chenopodiaceae), on the other hand, have many 

 useful species incuding the beet, spinach, chard, orache, quinoa 

 and several other edible or medicinal species. Until recently, 

 the Amarantaceae has nothing to its credit in this line, but 

 AY. E. Safford has discovered that one species once held a posi- 

 tion of much prominence and was high in kingly favor being in 

 fact the plant whose seeds was exacted in tribute from the 

 Aztecs by Montezuma, himself. More than 150,000 bushels 

 are said to have been stored annually in the royal graneries. 

 The plant producing these highly valued seeds is no other than 

 a form of our well-known prince's feather (Amaraiithus pau- 

 iculatiis). It is a native of Mexico and was originally brought 

 to northern gardens as an ornamental plant but is now a com- 

 mon weed in waste and cultivated grounds. The seeds which 

 are ivory white and smaller than a mustard seed were ground 

 and mixed with syrup to form a paste or dough from which 



