102 ON THE VEGETATION OF MALAYSIA, 



fifty-four, only two of which are doubtful, reckoning as species 

 forms which originated in cultivation and are permanently pre- 

 served. G. herhaceum is the species most cultivated in the United 

 States, G. indicum in China and Japan ; but these determinations 

 are doubtful. The natives of all the East from India to Japan 

 depend upon it as one of the great staples of agriculture. 



Papaver somwferum derived from F. setigerum which is wild 

 on the shores of the Mediterranean; cultivated from the most 

 ancient times. 



Mere mention can only be made of the following: Sesamu7)i 

 indicum cultivated for oil, Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), Aleu- 

 rites moluccanci cultivated for the oil in its seeds, Jatropha curcas 

 yielding a medicinal oil used also in lamps. 



Cultivated Roots. — Golocasia antiquorum is cultivated for 

 the edible rhizome and the swelled lower portion of the stem. 

 The leaf-stalks and young leaves are also eaten as a vegetable when 

 cooked. It belongs to the flora of south Asia, but its use has 

 spread over the warmer islands of the Pacific, the West Indies 

 and tropical America. Alocasia macrorrhiza, Schott, is another of 

 the esculent aroids, less frequently cultivated than the first-named ; 

 but in the same manner, and nearly in the same countries. The 

 rhizomes attain the length of a man's arm. They mast be 

 cooked until all bitterness is removed, or they are poisonous. 

 (De Candolle). "The Malay names of the first-named species 

 are kelady, tallus, tallas, tales or taloes, fiom which perhaps comes 

 the well-known name of the Otahitans and New Zealanders — tallo 

 or tarro, dalo in the Fiji Islands. The Japanese have a totally 

 distinct name, imo, which shows an existence of long duration 

 either indigenous or cultivated."^ Alocasia indica, Schott, with 

 three varieties mentioned by De Candolle, is cultivated equally 

 with the former. 



De Candolle, "Origin of Cultivated Plants," p. 74. 



