70 sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



natives as mandrai. In former times, the common spotted arum fvimished food to the 

 English during the periods of scarcity. It seems impossible to determine in all cases to 

 which species of arum travelers refer in recording the use of this genera of plants. The 

 information given under the heading of the species will show the generality of their use 

 and their importance. 



A. dioscoridis Sibth. & Sm. 



East Mediterranean countries. Theophrastus mentions that the roots and leaves 

 of this plant, steeped in vinegar, were eaten in ancient Greece. The roots, as Pickering 

 remarks,^ are cooked and eaten in the Levant. 



A. italicum Mill. Italian arum. 



Mediterranean countries. This arum is described by Dioscorides, who sa3rs its root 

 is eaten either raw or cooked. Westward, the cooked root is further mentioned by 

 Dioscorides as mixed with honey by the Balearic islanders and made into cakes.' This 

 plant was in cultivation for seven years in Guernsey for the purpose of making arrow-root 

 from its corms.' 



A. maculatum Linn, adam-and-eve. bobbins, cuckoo pint. lords-and-ladies. 



STARCH-ROOT. WAKE ROBIN. 



Europe. The thick and tuberous root, while fresh, is extremely acrid, but by heat 

 its injurious qualities are destroyed, and in the isle of Portland the plant was extensively 

 used in the preparation of an arrow-root. According to Sprengel,* its roots are cooked 

 and eaten in Albania, and in Slavonia it is made into a kind of bread. The leaves, even 

 of this acrid plant, are said by Pallas ^ to be eaten by the Greeks of Crimea. " Dioscorides 

 showeth that the leaves also are prescribed to be eaten and that they must be eaten after 

 they be dried and boyled." * 



Arundinaria japonica Sieb. & Zucc. Gramineae. cane. 



Northern Japan. When the young shoots appear in early svmimer, they are carefully 

 gathered and, under the name of take-no-ko, are used for food as we would employ young 

 asparagus; though by no means so tender as the latter, they make a very desirable dish.' 

 A. macrosperma Michx. large cane. 



North America. This is the species of cane which forms cane brakes in Virginia, 

 Kentucky and southward. Flint,* in his Western States, says: " It produces an abundant 

 crop of seed with heads very like those of broom com. The seeds are farinaceous and are 

 said to be not much inferior to wheat, for which the Indians and occasionally the first 

 settlers substituted it." 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 346. 1879. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 314. 1879. 



'Seemann, B. Journ. Bol. 1:2$. 1863. 



* Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. j,\^. 1879. 



' Pallas, P. S. Trav. Russia 2:449. 1803. 



' Gerarde. J. Herb. 835. 1633 or 1636. 



' Penhallow, D. P. Amer. Nat. 16:121. 1882. 



Flint, T. West. Slates 1:80, Si. 1828. 



