136 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Colchicum autumnale, Linn6. 



The Meadow-Saffron. Middle and Southern Europe, Western 

 Asia. The seeds and roots of this pretty bulbous-tuberous herb are 

 important for medicinal use. The plant has been introduced into 

 Australia by the writer with a view to its naturalisation on moist, 

 meadows in our ranges. Active principle : colchicin. The plant 

 proves hardy in Norway to lat. 67 56' [Schuebeler]. 



Colens Amboinicus, Loureiro. 



Southern Asia. An aromatic condiment-herb. 



Coleus tuberosus, A. Richard. 



Tropical- Africa. A herb producing edible tubers, but fit only for 

 frostless regions. To this attention has been drawn by Vilmorin, 

 Dyer, and others as a promising kitchen-plant. 



Collinsonia Canadensis, Linn6. 



Eastern North- America. A perennial herb ; the root, known 

 vernacularly as " Stone-root," is of medicinal importance, particularly 

 as a sedative. A few other species occur in North-America. 



Colocasia esculenta, Schott.* (C. antiquorum, Schott.) 



The Taro. This celebrated plant extends from Egypt through 

 Southern Asia to the South-Sea Islands, and is also indigenous in 

 the warmer parts of East- Australia. One of the about half-hundred 

 kinds of leading food-plants of the world. The stem-like, tuberous, 

 starchy roots lose their poisonous acridity by processes of boiling, 

 roasting or baking. It is the Kolkas of the Arabs and Egyptians, 

 and one of their most esteemed and abundant vegetables. Immense 

 quantities are harvested and kept during the winter. A splendid 

 starch is obtainable from the tubers of this and the following 

 species. From the juice of the leaves an indelible dark-brown ink 

 can be prepared ; a black ink by the addition of copper or alum [Dr. 

 Porcher]. The plant proves hardy as far south as Melbourne, and is 

 also cultivated in New Zealand. The tops of the tubers are replanted 

 for a new crop. Taro requires a rich, moist soil, and would grow 

 well on banks of rivers. For scenic culture it is a very decorative 

 plant. Peronospora trichotoma (Massee) has caused vast destruction 

 on the crops of this tuber in the Antilles. 



Colocasia Indica, Kunth. ( A locasia Indica, Schott.) 



South-Asia, South-Sea Islands and Eastern Australia. Cultivated 

 for its stem and tubers on swamps or rivulets. This stately plant 

 will rise in favorable localities to a height of 12 feet, the edible 

 trunk attaining a considerable thickness, the leaves sometimes 

 measuring 3 feet in length. In using the stem and root for food, 

 great care is needed, to expel all acridity by some heating process. 



