INTRODUCED PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 285 



being: most abundant on Kauai. It is quite eoinninii tbront;liont Polynesia, 

 growing without care in the native gardens. 



Tlie castor bean plant,-^ cultivated in several places, has escaped and 

 grows everywhere as a roadside shrub, often fifteen to thirty feet in height, 

 with a trunk twenty or more inches in diameter. It is a native of western 

 Asia and eastern Africa. The large palmately-lobed, reddish-green leaves 

 and large terminal flower clusters followed by the prickly three-parted burrs, 

 which bear the vari-colored seeds, mark this familiar plant, grown in many 

 gardens on account of its distinct ornamental value. Attempts to grow the 

 castor bean as a field crop have failed only for want of the right kind of labor 

 to gather the crop. 



Lotus. 



Another plant of considerable importance, both ornamentally and as a 

 crop, is the Chinese lotus.-" It is a native of China and the East generally, 

 and is grown in Hawaii by the Chinese farmers in taro and rice ponds; often 

 several acres will be seen in a patch. The root tubers, for which it is grown, 

 creep in the mud at the bottom. They are dug at irregular intervals and 

 suggest strings of white sausage, as they are seen in the vegetable stalls. 

 While the tuber is a favorite food of the Orientals, especially the Chinese, 

 Europeans and others seldom taste them, preferring to admire the orna- 

 mental effect of the large orbicular leaves and splendid cream-colored, showy 

 flowers that stand high above the water. The seeds are found in an odd- 

 shaped, flat-topped receptacle, and are also esteemed as food by the Orientals. 



Nuts. 



The curious Chinese horned-nut -^ is also cultivated in shallow ponds by 

 the Chinese, who boil the nuts, much as chestnuts are prepared by the Japanese. 



Peanuts,-* ground-nuts or goober-nuts, as they are variously called, were 

 once grown to some extent, principally for the oil. The crop is well adapted 

 to conditions in Hawaii, as has been proved by recent experiments, and it is to 

 be regretted that they are only grown for the local demand, since, being a 

 member of the great bean family, they store much valuable nitrogen and are 

 therefore beneficial to the soil, besides producing a valuable forage for animals. 

 In competition with the large California nuts, the island-grown product is 

 much finer flavored and are generally preferred in the local market. 



'I'hc peanut is really not a nut, however. It is a ripened pod with edible 

 seeds, produced by a plant resembling a pea or liean. When the flower falls, 

 the flower stem grows rapidl.y, curving down into the groiuul. The pea- 

 nut is a native of Brazil, where several closely-allied species are found. In 

 cultivation a number of important varieties have been produced, several of 

 which have been experimentally grown in Hawaii. 



Among the plants grown especially as green food for animals is soi-ghum.-'-' 



