EDIBLE TUBERS, BULBS OR ROOTS 



ing at the summit of the stem an umbel of incon- 

 spicuous, purplish-green florets. The dietetic in- 

 terest in them centers in the rootstocks, which bear 

 small tubers of a pleasant, nutty flavor, and both 

 white men and Indians have approved them, as well 

 as the white men's pigs. The Chufa's hard tubers, 

 especially, are sweet and tasty, and in some parts 

 of the South have been considered worthy of cultiva- 

 tion, though by reason of rapid increase and difficulty 

 to eradicate, the plant has a tendency to become a 

 bad weed. We get the name Chufa from Spain, 

 where the tubers are used in emulsion as a refresh- 

 ment in the same class with "almonds in the milk, 

 pasties, strawberries, azaroles, sugar icing and 

 sherbets, " according to some lines of a Spanish poem 

 I ran across the other day. 1 



Of quite restricted occurrence in the United States, 

 but worthy of mention because of its importance, is 

 a member of a peculiar natural order of plants 

 called Cycads. They resemble the palms in some 

 respects and in others the ferns, their leaves, for 

 instance, having a fashion of unrolling from base to 

 apex in the manner of fern croziers. Many species 

 inhabit tropical America, and two reach the southern 



i "Almendrucos y pasteles, 

 Chufas, fresas y acerolas, 

 Garapinas y sorbetes." 



27 



