152 ESCULENT ROOTS. 



GOLDEN THISTLE. Scolymus. C. 19. O. 1. sp. 3. ft. A 



spring plant with simple, soft and sweet roots, used for food. The 

 leaves and stalks also abound with a milky juice, and are eaten in 

 Spain in the same manner as cardoons. The flowers are used for adul- 

 terating the imported saffron. 



CLUB-RUSH, Scirpus, C. 3. O. 1. Cyperacese, sp. 11-96. E. P. 

 6 ft. a Rush, principle food for cattle and sheep in parts of Scotland, 

 in the spring. The bull-rush S.Lacustris, is used for bottoming chairs. 

 For this use it makes the finest bottoms when a year old, and is coarser 

 as it becomes older. For thatching and packing it is also much used. 

 Several varieties are eaten by cattle and the roots have been ground 

 for bread in times of scarcity. The water-chestnut of the Chinese is 

 a species. The tuberous roots are cultivated there in tanks and are 

 eaten boiled or raw, and are esteemed as food and medicine. The 

 club-rush abounds in this country, in moist places. 



ARROW-HEAD. Sagataria. C. 21. 0. 7. Alismaceae. A.sp. 6-16 

 ft. 1 to 2. A very handsome aquatic of this country, Europe and 

 parts of Asia. The bulb fixes itself in the earth below the mud, and 

 is used for food by the Chinese who cultivate it extensively. 



SMILAX. C. 22. O. 6. Smilacese. DC. 5-10 ft from a grater; 

 the stems are rough with stiff prickles. S. aspera has roots not unlike 

 those of the sarsaparilla with similar but inferior qualities ; it is larger, 

 more porous, and less compressed. S. sarsaparilla is another species 

 of the genus (which see under head of medicinal plants.) S. China 

 has long roots and is employed in China as food and as medicine and 

 in the W. Indies to feed swine. 



HOTTENTOT'S BREAD. C. 22. 0. 6. A plant of the east the 

 root of which is cracked and resembles the shell of a tortoise ; it is a 

 large fleshy mass, which the people use the pulp of as a sort of yam 

 in times of scarcity. 



ARRACACHA is a plant cultivated in South America for its farin- 

 aceous root. The principal root branches into several parts, each of 

 which is often over a foot in length. It grows at an elevation, near 

 Bagota, of 8,700 feet, corresponding nearly with our latitude, and hence 

 it is believed that it may be successfully cultivated in the U. S. The 

 product must be abundant ; and we are surprised -that no greater ef- 

 forts are made by the friends of agriculture to introduce this and simi- 

 lar exotics. It is highly nutritive and palatable, and is being intro- 

 duced into England. 



YAM, dioscorea sativa. This plant is supposed to be a native of 

 the E. Indies, and transplanted to the W. Indies. It grows sponta- 

 neously in Ceylon and some other places, and is extensively cultivated 

 in Asia, Africa, and America, for its valuable tuberous root, which is 

 eaten roasted and boiled ; and like our flour, is made into bread, pud- 

 dings, &c. It much resembles the potato in its farinaceous qualities, 



