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 tul)ers 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 dav.^ 



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 



1 "Almondrucos y pastelos, 

 Cliiifas, fresas y acerolas, 

 Garapiiias y sorbetes." 



27 



