IN THE VALLEY OF CARACAS. 267 
variety of D. aculeata, generally with a throughout bluish-violet tuber 
of very delicate taste, is known under the, name of c Mapuey.' Oviedo 
(Sumario, p. 50G) mentions ' Ajes' (the Haytian name of Dioscorea), 
distinguishing them clearly from the Batatas (" Hay otras plantas que 
se Hainan Ajes y otras que se Hainan Batates "). Of the former, he 
says, u Tiran a un color como entre morado y azul." This agrees per- 
fectly well with the Mapuey, so that, following Oviedo, the first writer 
on American plants,* this variety would be indigenous in the New 
World. Caulin (Hist, de la Nueva Andalucia, Carac. 1841, p. 20) 
mentions another form under the Caribbean name ■ Pirieha/ comparing 
it with the Mapuey ; but I have found no other information about 
this plant. In the Spanish island of Portorico, a species (which one ?) 
of Dioscorea is known under the name of * Gunda,' which certainly is 
not of American origin. 
Batatas edulis, Choisy. i Batata.' — Very extensively cultivated in four 
or five varieties. B.fastigiata, Sweet (Griseb. Flora, 468), is not un- 
common in the valley of Caracas. Is this really a species established 
on trustworthy characters ? The little difference in the relative length 
of the peduncle and the generally twining habit are scarcely sufficient 
reason for its being considered as a separate species. I found it aheap 
in the neighbourhood of batata-fields ; the root bears rather small 
tubers, and the whole plant looks more like a degenerated form of 
B. edulis. 
Carina edulis, Ker. ■ Capacho.'— A plant of scarcely any agricultural 
importance, and now very seldom cultivated. The name appears to be 
°f Quichua origin, from < Ccapac- Achira,' i.e. tall • Achira/ this being 
the name of various species of (Jama in Peru. (See Clements E. 
Markham, ? Contributions towards a Grammar and Dictionary of 
Quichua,' London, 1864, sub voce Achira.) 
Raphanus saticus, L. {radicnla). 'Rubano. — Grows very well. 
Brassicacampestris, L., and B. Napus, L. 'Nabos.'— Little cultivated, 
Principally by German settlers. 
Daucus Carota, L.— The vernacular name ' Zanahoria,' used in all 
countries where Spanish is spoken, is taken from the Basque lan- 
guage, and means, after Larramendi, yellow root This language 
t| * The first edition of the - Sumario ' was published 1526, in Toledo, under 
the title, " Tmtado de la Natural Historia de las Indus (sic!); lenapnmitf u 
«*tas del autor por industria de maestw Bemo de petras " (51 leaves m iol, 
U °tli. letters). 
