11 



QUARTERMASTER CORPS 



raw or cooked. Some of these "fiddle heads'* are too tough, 

 and others are bitter or otherwise bad tasting. But one point 

 may be kept in mind that, so far as known, none of the >f erns 

 is actually poisonous when eaten. In some species the young 



ClUM*'^^ 



Figure 1. — ^Tree ferns {Cyathea) 



tender leaves are cooked and eaten. In general only a few 

 of the better known or useful ferns have definite plant names, 

 but a common collective name for all ferns in the Malay 

 Archipelago is pako or paku. 



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