No. 200.] 115 



THE TANNIER, OR ARUM— A NEW ESCULENT. 



This valuable plant, I believe, is little known in the United States. 

 I had a present of one some eighteen years ago, which I planted near 

 the mill pond, in a damp soil ; it escaped notice for three or four 

 years, until my attention was drawn to it, by the beautiful leaves it 

 produced amidst briars and weeds. On examining the roots, I found 

 they had become numerous, and the first planted much increased in 

 size. I carefully removed them for cultivation, not knowing them 

 valuable for anything more than ornament. The leaf and root were 

 both as hot to the taste as pepper, and on scraping the skin, would 

 cause a smarting of the hands. I found, on boiling the root, a rich 

 vegetable of a chocolate color, resembling in taste deer's marrow. As 

 the roots grew large until last year, they were generally split for 

 boihng as turnips. But finding, under this process, a large amount 

 of glutinous substance they contained mixed with the water, and upon 

 its surface, from which it was necessary frequently to skim it, it was 

 discontinued. When boiled without cutting, and with the skin on, 

 they retained the rich glutinous substance, and when taken from the 

 boiling water, are as the Irish potatoe. 



They grow to the depth of four to six feet in rich moist soil, the 

 stalk at the root about two and a half inches in diameter, branching 

 oflf into many stems, one to one and a half inches broad, forming a 

 leaf from twelve to thirteen inches broad, and from twelve to twenty- 

 four inches long, of a transparent green. They should be planted as 

 Irish potatoes, about two feet wide, in drills, three inches from each 

 other. They will remain in the ground for ten years, increasing their 

 numbers every year, the old root increasing in size, and forming new 

 bulbs, which, in a year, form others. I did not know the value of the 

 tops until last summer ; these, when boiled, form a glutinous sub- 

 stance, which hogs eat as freely as boiled cabbage. One acre of rich 

 damp soil will produce 1000 bushels by the second year. 



NEEDHAM DAVIS, 



Davis' Mills, S. C. 



