STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 239 



says the Indian Archipelago and the southern portions of the Indian continent is the 

 starting point of this yam, thence it was carried first to the eastern coast of Africa, next 

 to the west coast and thence to America, whence the names yam and igname are 

 derived from the negroes. In the negro dahect of Guinea, the word yam means " to eat." 

 This is the species most generally cultivated in the Indian Archipelago, the small islands 

 of the Pacific and the Indian continent. ^ It is universally cultivated in the Carnatic 

 region.^ There are several varieties in Jamaica, where it is called white yam.' 



D. atropurpurea Roxb. Malacca yam. Rangoon yam. 



Siamese cotintries. The Malacca yam is cultivated in India and is known in Cal- 

 cutta as the rangoon yam.* It is called in Burma myouk-nee and is cultivated.* 



D. bulbifera Linn, air potato. 



Tropical Asia. Less cultivated than many others, this yam is found wild in the 

 Indian Archipelago, upon the Indian continent as far as SiUiet and Nepal to Madagascar.* 

 Grant ' found it in central Africa. The bulbs are like the Brazil-nut in size and shape 

 cut I'ke a potato when vmripe and are very good boiled. Schweinfurth ' says it is called 

 nyitti and the bulbs which protrude from the axils of the leaves, in shape like a great 

 Brazil-nut, resemble a potato in taste and bulk. In the Samoan and Tonga group of 

 islands, the root is not considered edible. In India, the flowers and roots are eaten by 

 the poorer classes, the very bitter root being soaked in lye to extract the bitterness, but 

 a variety occurs which is naturally sweet.' In Jamaica, it is cultivated by the negroes for 

 the bulbs of the stem.'" It was seen in a garden at Mobile, Alabama, by Wm. Bartram," 

 about 1733, under cultivation for its edible roots. 



D. cayenensis Lam. 



Tropical South America. The root is edible. 



D. daemona Roxb. 



East Indies. The plant is called kywae and its very acrid root is eaten by the Karens 

 in times of scarcity.'^ 



D. decaisneana Carr. 



China. The root is edible and was introduced into France as a garden plant but 

 is now forgotten, although it is perhaps valuable." 



> De CandoUe, A. Geog. Bot. 821. 1855. 



Wight, R. Icon. Pis. 3: PI. 810. No date. 



'Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 2:30^. 1814. 



Firminger, T. A. C. Card. Ind. 122. 1874. 



' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. -ji^. 1879. 



De Candolle, A. Geog. Bot. 2:821. 1855. 



' Speke, J. H. Journ. Disc. Source Nile ^84. 1864. 



' Schweinfurth, G. Heart. Afr. i:2$i. 1874. (Helmia bulbifera) 



' Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 416. 1879. 

 '"Lunan, J. Hort. Jam. 2:2,10. 1814. 

 " Hist. Mass. Hart. Soc. 27. 1880. 

 "Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 589. 1879. 

 " Bon Jard. 51 .^. 1882. 



