VEGETABLE FOODS 



159 



Rhubarb is a large-leaved perennial with woody rhizomes 

 which can be used to propagate the plant; the succulent and 

 acid leaf stalks are made into pies and sauces. Over 90% of the 

 stems is composed of water, in which are dissolved sugars and 



ASPARAGUS 



Fig. 95. — Few above-ground stems and leaf bases are important foods; excep- 

 tions are rhubarb, celery and asparagus. 



salts of malic and oxalic acid. Rhubarb is still a wild plant in its 

 native Asia. 



Celery is a native of Europe, still existing in the wild state in 

 England and the Mediterranean region, where it grows to be a 

 rather rank and tough plant of marshes and other wet habitats. 



