62 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



bits of hardened clay are made into marbles. We 

 know this arrowroot as tapioca, a nutritious food, 

 very good for babies and invalids. Cassava is the 

 common name of this tapioca arrowroot plant. 

 Manihot utilissima ("most useful" Manihot) is its 

 botanical name. "Manioc," and "mandioca," are 

 two names by which the plant is known in South 

 America, its native country. It looks like the 

 castor-oil plant as it grows, its stem giving off 

 branches in threes. The fleshy roots, like sweet 

 potatoes, are often six to eight feet long. They 

 are poisonous, if eaten fresh, but the poison is 

 driven out by heat and pressure. 



Sliced and dried, then rasped or ground, they 

 furnish the "cassava meal," out of which the 

 cassava cakes of the tropical countries are made. 

 Cassava bread is the same. Mixed with molasses 

 and fermented, the meal is a part of an intoxicat- 

 ing drink. 



SAGO PALM 



Pearl sago is a form of starch much like tapioca, 

 used for puddings, and various foods for conva- 

 lescents and children, because it is a form of starch 

 that is easy of digestion. It does not come from 

 roots nor tubers, as much starch does, nor from 

 seeds, as does the starch made from corn and other 



