DI O 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



DIG 



for food, as well as the sixth and seventh species. The roots 

 ;tve frequently three feet long, and weigh thirty pounds. 



(>. Dioscorea Bulbifera. Leaves cordate ; stem even, bulb- 

 oearing. Stalks slender, somewhat woody. Native of both 

 Indies, and of the islands in the South Seas. 



7. Dioscorea Sativa ; Cultivated Dioscorea, or Yam. Leaves 

 cordate, alternate ; stem even, round. It has slender stalks, 

 climbing to the height of eighteen or twenty feet, not 

 winged, but round. There is much confusion in the syno- 

 nyms of this plant. It is a native of the East and West In- 

 dies, and of Japan. The Yam is largely cultivated for food 

 in Africa, and in the East and West Indies, especially by 

 the negroes of the latter ; the roots grow to a considerable 

 size, are mealy, and esteemed to be easy of digestion ; they 

 are palatable, and not inferior to any roots now in use, 

 either for delicacy of flavour, or nutritive qualities ; they 

 are eaten instead of bread, either roasted on the embers or 

 boiled, and the flour of them is also made into bread and 

 puddings. In Otaheite they make a dish which the natives 

 esteem very delicious, from the roots of the Yam, with the 

 kernel of the cocoa-nut scraped, and the pulp of the banana. 

 There are many varieties of the roots, some spreading out 

 like the fingers, others twisted like a serpent, others again 

 very small, scarcely weighing more than a pound, with a 

 whitish ash-coloured bark, whereas the bark is commonly 

 black. The flesh of the raw Yam is white or purplish, and 

 viscid, but becomes farinaceous, or mealy, when dressed. 

 The above-named varieties were found in Othaheite. The 

 Yam is a native of Florida and Maryland. Cultivation of the 

 Yam. The roots (according to Brown) must be cut so as to 

 have a little of the skin to each piece, for by that alone they 

 germinate, the roots having no apparent buds or eyes, but 

 rusting out their weakly stems from every part of the surface 

 alike ; two or three plants are put into each hole, which holes 

 are dug pretty regular, a foot and a half or two feet square ; 

 these are afterwards filled from the adjoining banks, and the 

 whole piece is covered with cane trash, which serves to keep 

 the ground cool and fresh, and to prevent the growth of 

 weeds, from which they must be carefully preserved, until 

 they. grow sufficiently to cover the mould. They are planted 

 commonly in August, and are ripe about November and 

 December following : care should be taken to wound the 

 roots as little as possible in digging them up, for such as are 

 cut throw out their sprouts very early, and are therefore 

 seldom fit for any thing but planting. They should be rubbed 

 over with ashes, and piled regularly on beds or hurdles raised 

 above the floor, that the air may come easily between them ; 

 or if they be piled in heaps, some ashes should be strewed 

 between the layers. 



8. Dioscorea Villosa. Leaves cordate, alternate, and 

 opposite ; stem even. The flowers come out on long loose 

 strings on short pedicels. Native of Florida and Maryland. 



9. Dioscorea Oppositifolia. Leaves opposite, ovate, acu- 

 minate. Stem round, woody, twining, unarmed ; racemes of 

 male flowers axillary, opposite, solitary, subvillose, composed 

 of three cylindric aments ; the flowers are almost sessile. 

 Native of the East Indies, Japan, and Cochin-china ; where 

 the roots are preferred to all others. 



10. Dioscorea Septemloba. Leaves cordate, seven-lobed, 

 seven-nerved. The whole of this plant is smooth ; stem 

 round, climbing ; flowers axillary, in racemes, very small ; 

 apsule ovate, triangular, with the corners winged, emargi- 

 nate, with the style permanent. Native of Japan. 



11. Dioscorea Quinqueloba. Leaves cordate, five-lobed, 

 nine-nerved. Stem filiform, twining, very long, with the rest 

 of the plant smooth ; petioles swelling at top and bottom. 



reflex, a finger's length ; racemes axillary, two or three, loose, 

 near a span in length ; flowers on patulous pedicels, a line in 

 length, three or four together ; bractes ovate, acute ; calix 

 saffron-coloured ; germen inferior, smooth. Native of Japan . 



12. Dioscorea Japonica. Leaves cordate, acuminate, nine- 

 nerved. The whole plant is smooth ; stem filiform, angular, 

 twining, branched ; branches scattered, few, resembling the 

 stem ; petiole somewhat angular, reflex, spreading, nearly the 

 length of the leaf; spikes axillary, one or two together, 

 spreading, longer than the leaves ; the rachis regular. The 

 root of this species is cut into slices, boiled, and eaten, in 

 Japan ; where it is a native. 



13. Dioscorea Hastata. Leaves hastate ; stem even; ra- 

 cemes very long. This differs from the seventh species in 

 the shape of its leaves, which have two round ears at their 

 base, but the middle extends to an acute point, like an hal- 

 bert ; the bunches of flowers are also longer and looser than 

 those of the seventh species. 



14. Dioscorea Eburina. Leaves heart-shaped, seven- 

 nerved, alternate ; flowers hermaphrodite, in simple long 

 racemes. Stem shrubby, unarmed, long, twining ; the 

 branches and petioles four-cornered ; calix three-leaved, with 

 ovate erect leaflets ; corolla three-petalled, ovate, fleshy, 

 yellow, concave, nearly equal to the calix ; filamenta hardly 

 any ; antherse roundish, two-celled, very small ; germen 

 inferior, oblong, three-sided, without any style, but three 

 oblong reflex stigmas ; capsule oblong oval, the angles en- 

 tering deep ; seeds ovate, few. Root vertical, consisting of 

 one or two tubers, three feet long, round, angular, sharpish, 

 curved a little in shape and whiteness resembling elephants 

 teeth, whence the vernacular name khoai ngu, and the trivial, 

 eburina. Native of Cochin-china, 



15. Dioscorea Cirrhosa. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, three- 

 nerved ; flowers hermaphrodite, three-stamined ; stem cirr- 

 hose Stem shrubby, long, slender, climbing ; flowers very 

 small, axillary, on three-flowered peduncles; calix six-leaved, 

 superior ; leaflets ovate, thick, curved, almost closed, per- 

 manent, in a double row, of which the inner is smaller; co- 

 rolla and filamenta none. The root a middle-sized irregular 

 tuber. Native of Cochin-china. 



Diosma ; (African Spirsa) a genus of the class Pentandria, 

 order Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth 

 five-leaved ; leaflets ovate, acute, permanent. Corolla .- 

 petals five, ovate, obtuse, sessile, erect, spreading ; nectaries 

 five, placed on the germen. Stamina : filamenta five, subu- 

 late ; antherae subovate, erect. Pistil germen crowned 

 with the nectary ; style simple, the length of the stamina ; 

 stigma obscure. Pericarp : capsules five, ovate -acuminate, 

 compressed, conjoined inwardly at the margin, distant at the 

 tips, gaping at the upper suture. Seed: solitary, oblong, 

 ovate-depressed, acuminate at the point ; an elastic aril, gap- 

 ing on one side, involving each seed. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Corolla: five-petalled. Nectary : five on the germen. 

 Capsule: three or five, conjoined. Seeds: veiled. All < 

 plants are propagated by cuttings, which may be planted 

 during any of the summer months, in pots filled with light 

 fresh earth, and plunged into a very moderate hot-bed, where 

 they should be shaded in the day-time from the sun, and fre- 

 quently refreshed with water. In about two months the cut- 

 tings will have taken root, when they should be each trans- 

 planted into a small pot, and placed in a shady situation, until 

 the plants lin\ e taken fresh root, when they may be placed in 

 a sheltered situation with other plants ; they may remain 

 abroad until the beginning of October, or later, if the season 

 continue favourable ; for they only require to be sheltered 

 from frost, so that in a very dry airy green-house they may be 



