46 COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



culture is carried on. It was first referred to Stachys affinis, 

 then to S. tuberifera, and now to S. Sieboldi. In December, 

 1887, tubers from plants grown at West Moulsey were ex- 

 hibited at the Royal Horticultural Society of London, since 

 which time it has been grown in many English gardens, and 

 the tubers cooked and eaten, and from most of the growers 

 they have been very favourably reported upon as an esculent, 

 as well as for pickling in vinegar. We quote the* following 

 from an article on this new vegetable in the Gardeners 1 

 Chronicle for Jan. 7, 1888, p. 16 : " The plant is alleged to 

 be perfectly hardy, and of the easiest possible culture. It 

 will grow anywhere, on any ordinary soil, but like other 

 plants it will no doubt repay a little attention in the way of 

 trenching and manuring. Its defects at present are its small 

 size and the fact that its tubers do not keep well when lifted, 

 but both these defects can be overcome or evaded. In point 

 of flavour we have heard it compared to salsify, Jerusalem 

 artichokes, and to boiled chestnuts ; our own taste would 

 lead us to consider it as most nearly allied in point of flavour 

 to the latter. 



" M. Carriere, while admitting that the difficulty of pre- 

 serving the tubers militates against them as a market-garden 

 crop, points out that it is well suited for the domestic 

 kitchen-garden, where the tubers can be lifted in late 

 autumn or winter and eaten in a fresh state either boiled, 

 fried like salsify, made into sauce, or cooked in a dozen other 

 ways that any cook especially a French one will 

 devise." 



The plant belongs to the natural order Labiatae, is a 

 native of Japan, and produces its tubers abundantly at the 

 ends of the underground branches, exactly as in the potato. 

 It has been advertised by the seedsmen as " Chinese Arti- 

 choke," but the name " Stachys " has been suggested for it 

 as being more correct than either Chinese Artichoke or 

 Crosnes. 



