1383 



These are eaten raw, as well as cooked, and are also 

 frozen and dried. Raw ocas, when first dug, have a dis- 

 tinctly acid taste, like sheep sorrel, but this is lost 

 after the tubers have been exposed to the sun. The 

 plant attains a height of a foot or more and has the 

 appearance of a large sheep sorrel. The flowers are 

 yellow and the leaflets are folded at night or in wet 

 weather, the same as in the sheep sorrel. The varieties 

 are numerous, though much fewer than in the case of the 

 potato. The tubers are very tender, rather crisp and 

 juicy. in form some are nearly cylindrical, while 

 others are slender at the base and strongly thickened 

 at the end. The colors vary from white or light pink 

 through darker pinks or yellows to deep purplish red. 

 In addition to the pleasing coloration, the surface of 

 the tubers is smooth and clear, so that the general 

 appearance is very attractive. If the taste should 

 prove acceptable ocas might become very popular for 

 salads and pickles. The nature and habits of the plant 

 indicate that it may be adapted to acid soil, which 

 would be a distinct advantage in some parts of the 

 United States. (Adapted from notes under S. P. I. No. 

 41168, by Mr. 0. F. Cook. ) 



Pentstemon palmeri (Scrophulariaceae ) , 46595. Beard- 

 tongue. Plants grown at the Plant Introduction Field 

 Station, Chico, California. "Pentstemon palmeri, from the 

 western and southern slopes of the San Francisco Moun- 

 tains of Arizona, is one of our best and most promis- 

 ing native species of this useful genus of ornamental 

 plants. It withstands droughty conditions well and 

 responds remarkably to good treatment. In nature the 

 spikes stand 4 to 6 feet high and the plant is reduced 



. to little more than a rosette of basal leaves at the 

 close of the long dry, late summer and autumn. Under 

 conditions at Chico, California, the flowering stems 

 may stand 6 to 7 feet high and the plants go into winter 

 with a vegetative growth of 18 inches or more. Its 

 abundant glaucous green foliage , long spike (2 to 3 ft.) 



of large pink flowers opening progressively from below, 

 together with its very robust habit , make it a desirable 

 acquisition to our long list of pentstemons . It has good 

 seed habits and if started early in flats and trans- 

 planted into the open in early spring it will blossom 

 sparingly the same year." (Griffiths.) 



