VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 447 



way as the leaves of the plant are used as a substitute for 

 tobacco in England and America. 



TYPHA ORIENTALIS. — ^ ff (Hsiang-p'u), 420. 

 This is a kind of bulrush^ resembling the Typha latifolia of 

 Europe, which is also found in the south of China. It grows 

 at the side of pools, and its linear, reddish leaves are made into 

 mats and fans. The young shoots are gathered in the spring 

 and pickled, and may also be steamed and eaten. The 

 character % is used to distinguish it from Acorns calmmts^ 

 which is sometimes called % f|f (Ch'ou-p'u). The heart of the 

 tender plant, which is found at the bottom of the pond in the 

 mud, is called fjff ||' (P'u-jo) and ^ ^ (Pai-jo), and is some- 

 times eaten raw, after careful cleansing. It is sweet and 

 delicate, and the Chinese like it steeped in vinegar. The 

 stem of the plant bears at the top a kind of mace, containing 

 the jflowers, which is called y|f ^ (P'u-ch'ui) and fdj ^ (P'u-o). 

 The pollen of the flowers, which is exceedingly plentiful, and 

 is like a fine, golden dust, is called -/Iff ^ (P'u-huang), 1054. 

 It is collected, mixed with honey, and sold as a sweetmeat. 

 The old root is also edible when boiled or steamed with fat 

 meat, or it is dried in the sun, powdered, and made into cakes. 

 The rhizomes are also called f|f ^ (P'u-sun), and are reputed 

 to be tonic, cooling, diuretic, and galactagogue. They are 

 recommended in caked breast, fevers, and dysentery. The 

 pollen, which comes mixed with the stamens and the hairy 

 sepals of the flowering spike, is a yellow powder tending to 

 collect into balls, and resembles lycopodium powder, especially 

 in being quite inflammable. It requires sifting, and is then 

 used as an astringent, styptic, sedative, dessicant remedy in all 

 sorts of hemorrhages, bruises, and ecchymoses, especially those 

 occurring after labor. The refuse i^{^ left after sifting the 

 pollen, is called f^f ^ (P'u-6), and is browned and used as an 

 astringent in dysentery and other hemorrhages from the bowels. 



TYPHONIUM GIGANTEUM. jg il jf (Tu-chio-lien). 

 The identification of this plant is uncertain, it having been 

 confounded with Ariscsma heterophylla (Henry and P'aber), 

 Podophyllujn versipelle (Ford and Crow), and Diphylleia 

 (Japanese). See the article on Dithylleia. 



