282 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



allowed to grow freely but not to form seed after the early growth 

 is cut for use. 



SQUARE-POD PEA. Lotus tetragonolobus. 



This plant has recently acquired some little popularity in Cali- 

 fornia as a table vegetable. It will make a good winter growth in 

 some regions of the state, though a little spring heat is more pleas- 

 ing to it. Its culture is like that of garden peas, and, if sown during 

 the rainy season, will bear an abundance of edible pods for early 

 spring use. The pods should be gathered when young and tender 

 and are cooked like string beans. 



CHINESE YAM. Dioscoria batatas. 



This climbing plant grows thriftily in California and sends its 

 fleshy roots, which are the edible part, so deep that it seems to 

 contemplate return to its native country. To get the roots one has 

 to dig a well several feet deep, because they are so brittle that they 

 will stand no pulling whatever. With present prices of labor in this 

 country it is not profitable to go into deep mining to get starchy 

 food, and the plant is grown only as a curiosity. 



UDO. Aralia cor data. 



This Japanese vegetable was introduced in 1906 from Japan 

 by Mr. David Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, well known to Californians because of the 

 many visits he has made to the state and the many interesting things 

 he has brought to us from foreign parts. 



The edible parts of udo are the blanched shoots, which, when 

 properly prepared, are said to be delicious. Mr. Fairchild gives a 

 detailed account of the growth and uses of the plant in Bulletin 84 

 of the Department of Agriculture on "Experiments with Udo, the 

 New Japanese Vegetable," but states that he is not certain that 

 udo will prove superior in any detail to vegetables which are already 

 under cultivation in America. Growth of udo was undertaken for 

 eastern shipment by M. E. Meek, near Antioch, Contra Costa 

 county. Mr. Meek planted several acres, and Mr. Fairchild says 

 it is the first commercial field of it in the United States. 



