238 STURTEV ant's NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



are used in curries.' In Burma, the green fruit is brought to the bazaars and is considered 

 a favorite vegetable.' 



D. serrata Thunb. 



Malay. The fruit is the size of an orange and has a sweetish, acid taste.' It is eaten 

 in the Eastern Archipelago. 



Dimorphandra mora Benth. & Hook. f. Leguminosae. 



A gigantic timber-tree of British Guiana. The seeds, says Brown,* are used by the 

 natives as food, being boiled, grated, and then mixed with cassava meal, giving it a brown 

 color but a pleasant and sweetish taste. The seeds of another species are likewise used. 



Dioon edule Lindl. Cycadaceae. 



Mexico. The seeds yield a starch used as arrowroot.' 



Dioscorea. Dioscoreaceae. yams. 



V 



Under the general name of yams the large, fleshy, tuberous roots of several species 

 of Dioscorea are cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries. Many varieties 

 known only in cultivation are described as species by some authors. In the Fiji Islands 

 alone, says Milne,* there are upwards of 50 varieties, some growing to an enormous 

 size, occasionally weighing from 50 to 80 pounds but the general average is from two to 

 eight pounds. In Australia, according to Drummond,' there is a native yam which affords 

 the principal vegetable food of the natives. 



D. aculeata Linn, birch-rind yam. goa potato. 



Tropical Asia. This yam is said to be a native of tropical, eastern Asia, and is cul- 

 tivated in the Indian Archipelago, the Pacific islands and the West Indies. The root 

 is of a sweetish taste and Dr. Seemann ' regarded it as one of the finest esculent roots of 

 the globe. It is cultivated in India ^ and the tubers are dug, in the cold season, in the 

 forests and sold in the bazaars. 1 A variety cultivated at Caracas has a very delicious 

 taste," though Lunan,'^ at Jamaica, says this yam is slightly bitter. This yam is said by 

 Seemann, at Viti, never to flower or fruit. 



D. alata Linn, white yam. 



Tropical Asia. This plant is ctiltivated in the tropics of the whole earth, linger *' 



iWallich P;. ^iia/. 1:21. Tab. 22. 1830. 



'Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 112. 1879. {D. scabia) 



Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 1:7s. 1831. 



* Brown, C. B. Camp Life Brit. Guiana 383. 1876. (Mora excelsa) 

 ' Lindley, J. Bot. Reg. Misc. 59. 1843. 



Milne, W. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 6:263. i860. 

 ' Hooker, W. J. Journ. Bot. 2:355. 1840. 

 'Mueller, F. 5e/. P/j. 153. 1891. 



' Roxburgh, W. Hort. Beng. 72. 1814. 

 ' Drury, H. Useful Pis. Ind. 183. 1873. 

 "Mueller, F. Sel. Pis. 153. 1891. 

 " Lunan, J. flor/. /am. 2:309, 310. 1814. 

 "Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rbt. 310. 1859. 



