286 CALYCIFLORJS. 



legumes straight pendulous compressed torulose rufo- 

 villous. 



Lam. Eticycl. II. 293. Plum. Sp. t. 220. 



HAB. Cultivated. 



FL. Throughout the year. 



Flowers white. Seeds red. The root is formed of a num- 

 ber of simple cord-like fibres, several feet in length, stretching 

 under the surface of the ground, bearing in their course a suc- 

 cession of tubers. 



The beans are poisonous ; but the root affords a very plenti- 

 ful supply of very wholesome food. The produce of three 

 plants is usually sufficient to fill a bushel basket. The tubers 

 may either be boiled plain, in which state they are a very good 

 substitute for yams and other roots in common use ; or they may 

 be submitted to a process similar to arrow-root, and a starch 

 obtained. This starch is of a pure white, and is equal in every 

 respect to arrow-root. To the taste it is very palatable, is 

 easily digested, and is employed for custards and puddings. 

 Even the trash left after obtaining the starch, and which in the 

 preparation of arrow root is lost, may, when thoroughly dried, 

 be formed into a palatable and wholesome flour. 



A very excellent flour may also be obtained by slicing the 

 tubers, drying them in the sun, and then reducing to a powder. 



This plant is deserving of being more generally cultivated 

 than it has hitherto been. It ought in a great measure to su- 

 persede the arrow-root in cultivation. It can be planted at 

 any season of the year, and the roots are fit for digging in the 

 course of four or five months : the return is infinitely greater 

 than that from arrow-root, and the proportion of starch also is 

 more abundant, so that it can be brought to market at so cheap 

 a rate, as to admit of being employed by the calico-printers in 

 place of potato-starch. 



The Yam-bean has of late years been partially cultivated in 

 this Island. It is said to have been introduced from Marti- 

 nique. It is probably a native of Java, as Perrotet (Ann. Marit. 

 1812, page 89,) informs us that the roots form, in that Island, 

 as well as in other districts of India, an article of food. 



2. Dolichos filiformis. Filiform Dolichos. 



Leaflets elliptico-ovate of a length twice that of the 

 breadth, legumes falcate. 



Dolichos herbaceus minor, Browne, 294. Dolichos filiformis, 

 Linn. Ann. V. 402 ? 



HAB. Lower hills on fences. St Andrew's and Port-Royal. 

 Near Old-Harbour. 



FL. October November. 



Herbaceous, filiform, twining, pubescent. Leaflets ovate, ob- 



