16-17 QUARTERMASTER CORPS 



at all in this stage should be finely grated or crushed. Local 

 names: Nipa, ipah, saripi, parenga, dimor, Idtaf, sanenem, 

 hira, wera, song, kopere, tdmu, hoho, hohoro, salipi. 



Section VIII 

 EDIBLE GRASSES 



Paragraph 



Grasses in general . 17 



Specific grasses 18 



■ 17. Grasses in General. — a. To this family belong all of 

 our cultivated cereals, such as rice, wheat, barley, oats, rye, 

 millet, sorghum, maize or corn, etc. Rice, millet, sorghum, 

 maize, and several other cereals are extensively cultivated in 

 the Tropics, but one does not find rye, wheat, oats, and other 

 cereals so characteristic of the temperate regions. The bam- 

 boos are all grasses, and the young shoots of most of these 

 (and there are many kinds in Malaya) may be cooked and 

 eaten with safety (see par. 18c) . The cultivated sugarcane 

 is a grass. Its juice is rich in sugar, and thus has consid- 

 erable food value. A wild species of sugarcane, a coarse, 

 harsh-leafed grass 4 to 10 feet high, or even taller in rich 

 soil, is very common and widely distributed in open valley 

 lands. The flower -bearing parts are white, and make the 

 species very conspicuous. It sometimes occupies large areas 

 and scarcely needs a description. This is known as taldhib, 

 geldgah, gldgah, kdso, tebu-sdla, tatebau, tehiu, tigbau, 

 bogang, kldgah, tlengdt, kenu, sdraw, hepu, dalina, djodo, 

 and siuhu. The hearts of the young shoots are frequently 

 eaten raw or cooked, and are even sold in the markets of 

 Java. The very young flowering parts, while still inclosed in 

 the upper leaf -sheaths, may be cooked and eaten, while the 

 roots may be peeled and eaten and taste somewhat sweet like 

 the cultivated sugarcane. 



b. Some of the wild grasses allied to millet, such as our 

 common barnyard grass, have fairly large seeds, and these 

 are produced in abundance; they may be gathered, the seeds 

 rubbed out of the chaff, and either boiled or roasted. While 

 the seeds of the wild grasses are much smaller than those of 

 our cultivated cereals, nevertheless they are perfectly safe to 

 eat, and are actually used by the natives in times of food 

 shortages. (See figs. 17 and 18.) 



26 



