TAPISCIA 



TARO 



3311 



Staphyleaceae. An ornamental deciduous tree from 

 China with large alternate odd-pinnate Ivs., deciduous 

 stipules and with small yellow fragrant fls. in axillary 

 panicles: calyx tubular-campanulate, 5-lobed; petals 

 5, spatulate-obovate, little longer than the calyx; 

 stamens 5, exserted; style slender, longer than sta- 

 mens; ovary superior: fr. a 1-seeded ovoid drupe. It is 

 as yet little known in cult., but probably can be grown 

 successfully in the S. only; it may be recommended 

 chiefly for its bold pinnate foliage and the honey- 

 scented fls. Prop, can probably be effected by cuttings 

 besides by intrp. seeds. T. sinensis, Oliver. Small tree, 

 to 30 ft., occasionally to 90 ft. : Ifts. 5-7, ovate to ovate- 

 oblong, acuminate, cordate at the base, serrulate, glau- 

 cescent and nearly glabrous beneath, 3-5 in. long: 

 panicles broad, 2-3 in. long: fls. vjin. long, yellow, fra- 

 grant: fr. ovoid, black, ^in. long. June, July. Cent, 

 and W. China. H.I. 20:1928. ALFRED REHDEB. 



TARAXACUM (name probably associated with sup- 

 posed medicinal properties). Leontodon of some 

 authors. Compdsitee. DANDELION. Low nearly or quite 

 stemless herbs of cold and temperate regions, mostly of 

 the northern hemisphere. Distinguished by having 

 large many-fld. ligulate yellow heads solitary on naked 

 and hollow scapes; involucre with one inner series of 



3774. Variation in foliage of the common dandelion. 

 (All lea ves drawn to the same scale.) 



erect narrow bracts and outer calyx-like spreading some- 

 times reflexed bracts; pappus simple and capillary, 

 borne on a slender beak terminating a fusiform elon- 

 gated angled achene: fls. opening in sunshine, The 

 plants are exceedingly variable and there are conse- 

 quently great differences of opinion as to the number of 

 species. Bentham & Hooker would reduce them to 

 about 6, and others would retain 25 or more. The 

 common dandelion is T. officinale, Weber, known also 

 as T. Dens-lebnis, Desf . It 'varies immensely in stat- 

 ure and form of Ivs., as shown in Figs. 3771-3774. 

 For history, see Sturtevant, Proc. 6th Meeting Soc. 

 Prom. Agr. Sci., and Amer. Nat., Jan., 1886. For an 

 account of the red-seeded dandelion, T. erythrosper- 

 mum, Andrz., see Fernald, Bot. Gaz., July, 1895:323. 

 From the common dandelion it differs in having smaller 

 sulfur-yellow heads, smaller and very deeply cut Ivs., 

 outer involucral scales not reflexed and somewhat 

 glaucous: achenes red or red-brown and shorter beaked: 

 pappus dirty white. It is known to occur in New 

 England, N. Y., Pa. and W.; probably naturalized from 

 Eu. For the cultural directions, see Dandelion, Vol. II. 



L. H. B. 



TARE, TARES. To the modern English farmer 

 the word "tare" means the common vetch, Vicia 

 saliva, although tare is also applied loosely to other 

 species of Vicia and Lathyrus, particularly Vicia 

 hirsuta. The celebrated passage in Matthew xiii, 

 25, "His enemy came and sowed tares among the 

 wheat," refers probably to the darnel, Lolium temu- 

 lentum. The original Greek word in Matthew is 

 Zizania, a name which in botany refers to the wild 

 rice. Darnel belongs to the grass family and its 

 seeds were long thought to stupefy those who ate 

 them unwittingly. The supposed narcotic property 

 in the fruit is said to be due to the presence of a 

 fungus. 



TARO. A group of tuberous-rooted edible aroids, 

 of the genus Colocasia, scattered throughout the 

 tropics and subtropics of the world; cultivated also 

 in many warm regions of the temperate zones, as 

 Egypt, Syria, China, Japan, and New Zealand, and 

 latterly in the southern United States. 



The taro has been cultivated from very early 

 times and the Egyptian variety, under the name 

 "colocasia," is mentioned by Pliny as being of great 

 importance in Egypt at that time. The culture of 

 it was said to have been already introduced into 

 Italy. The Egyptian variety, now called qolqas, 

 is Colocasia aniiquorum (Arum Colocasia), Fig. 

 3775, a quite different plant from that of the 

 varieties most commonly grown in south- 

 eastern Asia and the islands of the Pacific. 

 The qolqas is of very inferior quality and 

 is said to be eaten in Egypt only by the 

 laboring classes. 



The botany of the taros of the Pacific 

 regions is in an unsatisfactory state, owing 

 largely to the infrequency with which 

 many varieties flower, but most of them 

 evidently belong to Colocasia esculenta 

 (by some considered to be a variety of C. 

 antiquorum and so treated in Vol. II, page 

 830). See Fig. 3776. 



The culture of taro has probably 

 reached its highest development in the 

 Hawaiian Islands and it is largely through 

 its extensive use there that the plant 

 has become so widely known among 

 travelers and others. The large number 

 of varieties despite the fact that the plants 

 seldom, if ever, set seed, testifies to the 

 antiquity of the culture of this type of 

 taro. MacCaughey and Emerson, in the 

 Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist 



