158 



VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



discovery, the plant, which was found growing com- 

 monly in the woods of St Domingo, was for some 

 time after used in this manner : no part of the plant, 

 with the exception of the tuberous root was found to 

 be edible. 



Salep Orchis mascula. 



SALEP Orchis mascula. This plant is assidu- 

 ously cultivated in the East, for the sake of its root, 

 which forms a considerable part of the diet of the 

 inhabitants of Turkey, Syria, and Persia. Botanists 

 have enumerated many species of this genus of 

 plants, which are fleshy rooted, and from several 

 of which salep may be prepared. That which is 

 generally preferred, however, is the one above named, 

 the orchis mascula, or male orchis, and it is from 



