u 



UDO, a spring blanched vegetable introduced in 1903 

 by Lathrop and Fairchild from Japan; it is Aralia car- 

 data, and for botanical description see page 344, Vol. I. 



The plant is a sturdy hardy perennial, and the strong 

 young shoots are blanched as they grow; these shoots 

 are used as a cooked vegetable or as a salad. It is a 

 plant of ancient and widespread cultiva- 

 tion in Japan, where there are distinct 

 strains or varieties of it. The cultiva- 

 tion of udo in this country is in its 

 amateur stage for the most part, although 

 it has been grown by the acre in the 

 Sacramento Valley. * The following 

 account is chosen from Bulletin No. 84 

 of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, 1914, written by David 

 Fairchild. 



"There is no doubt that the udo is 

 worthy of adding to our list of spring 

 vegetables, for it is easily grown, its 

 shoots are readily blanched, and it re- 

 quires little care. A patch of it can be 

 forced even.' spring for at least six years, 

 and probably much longer. When prop- 

 erly prepared its blanched shoots are 

 delicious; they have 

 their own character- 

 istic flavor, can be 

 prepared for the table 

 in a great variety of 

 ways, and are keenly 

 appreciated by people 

 of discriminating taste. 

 Space for space, udo 

 will yield about the 

 same amount of food 

 for the table as aspara- 

 gus and will be ready 



for use at about the same time in the spring. Possibly 

 more labor is required to blanch the shoots of the udo 

 than those of asparagus, but the udo is probably some- 

 what easier to take care of and yields sooner." 



Udo is readily grown from seeds placed in a green- 

 house or coldframe, sown \/ inch deep in March or 

 April. When 3 to 4 inches high, the plants are set in 

 the open ground, standing 3J^ to 4 feet apart each 

 way; often they will be 6 feet high by autumn. When it 

 is desired to propagate a particular strain, cuttings may 

 be made of the green shoots taken when about % inch 

 in diameter and cut 5 inches or more long, the lower end 

 being severed just below a joint. 



The stout young shoots are blanched as they emerge 

 from the ground. In mild climates, earth may be 

 mounded over them, but a large dram-tile placed over 

 the mound provides a better method for the home 

 garden. 



This method "has at least one disadvantage, how- 

 ever, in that the shoots have a tendency to leaf out and 

 produce a number of unopened leafstalks which take 

 away from the robust growth of the shoots. A method 

 which has obviated this defect in using tiles is to put 

 around each hill a deep box or small half cask from 

 which the bottom has been removed and fill it with 

 light sand or such a light material as sifted coal-ashes. 

 Shoots which come up through such a medium are 

 almost free from the elongated leafstalks which are 



developed when the shoots are produced in the dark 

 air-chambers under the tiles. Care must be taken in 

 any method of mounding up or filling in dirt or ashes 

 over the crowns that the shoots do not break through 

 into the sunlight, for as soon as they do this they 

 become green and take on a rank objectionable flavor. 

 Properly grown udo shoots produced 

 from three-year-old plants should be 

 from 12 to 18 inches long and 1 inch to 

 1J^ inches in diameter at their bases. 



"After the removal of the crop of udo 

 shoots in the spring, the crowns of the 

 plants should be completely uncovered 

 and the plants allowed to grow normally 

 throughout the summer, but they should 

 not be permitted to flower unless seed 

 is required, the flower- 

 clusters being pinched 

 or cut back as they 

 form." 



For use, the shoots 

 are first boiled in salt- 

 water for ten minutes 

 or so and the water 

 changed to remove the 

 turpentine flavor. An 

 hour's stay in ice- 

 water will remove the 

 resin from the shoots, 

 provided they are cut 

 into thin slices or 

 shavings; the slices 

 may then be used in 

 salads without cook- 

 ing. It is used also in 

 soups, and on toast. 



UHDEA. A name 

 proposed by Kunth in 

 1847 for a Mexican 

 composite, still some- 

 times listed as U. bipin- 

 natifida, Kunth. It is 

 properly Montanoa 

 bipinndtifida, Koch, 

 the name Montanoa 

 dating from 1825. See 

 page 2064, Vol. IV. 



ULEX (ancient Latin name of this or a similar plant). 

 Leguminosse. FTJRZE. GOHSE. WHIN. Ornamental 

 woody plants grown for their handsome yellow flowers 

 and evergreen appearance. 



Spiny shrubs: Ivs. mostly scale-like, only vigorous 

 shoots near the ground bearing fully developed Ivs.: 

 fls. papilionaceous, axillary at the end of the branchlets; 

 calyx 2-lipped, divided nearly to the base; standard 

 ovate, wings and keel obtuse; stamens alternately 

 longer and shorter: pods small, ovoid, few-seeded; seeds 

 strophiolate. About 20 species in W. and S. Eu. and 

 in N. Afr. Closely allied to Cytisus and chiefly distin- 

 guished by the deeply 2-lobed calyx. The fls. yield a 

 yellow dye. Sometimes cult, as a winter fodder plant in 

 Eu., the green sprigs of one year's growth being eaten. 



The furzes are much-branched shrubs with dark 

 green spiny branches, usually almost leafless, and with 



3876. Ulex europaeus. Furze. 



(3407) 



