XANTHOSOMA 



XANTHOXYLUM 





known as "Malanga," a crop to which two 

 per cent of the arable land in Porto Rico 

 is devoted. Many species of the arum 

 family are noted for their huge tubers, 

 some of which are edible "after the acrid 

 and more or less poisonous properties are 

 dispersed by the expression of the juice, 

 or by its dissipation through heat" (B. 

 M. 4989). Of this class the best known 

 is the Elephant's Ear, or Coloctmia es- 

 culenta. The Mahmira is said to be "lit- 

 tle, if at all, inferior to Cultidiiim escu- 

 li'iitmn; in wholesoineness and delicacy 

 far superior to spinach: and in this re- 

 spect it may vie with any European vege- 

 table whatever." Hot. Mag. The"Yantia 

 Malanga" of Porto Rico is, according to 

 Cook, i'dluraxin aiitiqiiorum, var. es- 

 culentn. Other Yantias are species of 

 Xanthosoma. The botany of them is con- 

 fused. 



Xanthosoma is a mentis of 25 species, / 

 according to Engler, who has given an 

 account of them in Latin in DC. on 

 Phaner. vol.2 (187!)). They are milky 

 herbs of South and Central America with 

 a tuberous or tall and thick rhizome: Ivs. 

 arrow-shaped, 3-cut or pedately cut : fls. 

 unisexual, naked : males with 4-G sta- 

 mens connate in an inversely pyramidal 

 synandrium with 5 or 6 faces: ovary 2-4- 

 loculed; ovules anatropous. 



A. Candex a short, thick, erect rhizome. 

 sagittifdlium, Schott (Arum sayittifd- 

 Uttin, Linn.). MAJ.ANGA. A tropical vegetable. "Young 

 plants of this are stemless, but in age, from the decay of 

 the old Ivs.. an annulated caudex is formed some inches 

 in height, each throwing out stout fibers from the base, 

 and from time to time producing offsets, by which the 

 plant is easily propagated, or if suffered to remain the 



2755. Xanthorrhiza apiifolia (X 



plant becomes tufted, and numerous Ivs. are produced 

 from the summit of the short, yet stem-like trunks" 

 (.B.M. 4<iH9). Lvs. 1-2 or almost 3 ft. long, broadly 



2756. Xanthosoma Lindeni. Leaves a foot or so long. 



AA. Caitdex tuberous. 



Lindeni, Engl. ( Phyllotcenium Limlmi. Andre"). Fig. 

 2756. Tender variegated foliage plant with large, ar- 

 row-shaped Ivs. marked with white alontr the midrib 

 and parallel veins which run therefrom to the margin. 

 I.H. 19:88. A.Q. 19:573 (1898). -Tuberous plant from 

 Colombia. G. W. Oliver, in his "Plant Culture, "remarks 

 that this stove ornamental plant should be more used 

 for decorative purposes than it is at present, for it will 

 stand more rough usage than one would suppose. After 

 a goodly number of leaves have been developed in ;\ 

 warm, moist atmosphere, the plant- will maintain a 

 good appearance in a greenhouse temperature and may 

 even be used as house plants. The Ivs. are firmer in 

 texture than caladiums. Prop, by division. Hefnre re- 

 potting, put the pieces in a warm sand-bed to encour- 

 age fresh roots. Lvs. oblong-hastate, with ncute basal 

 lobes. 



X. lielojihj'/lhiin. Kunth. has a short, thick, erect rhizome 

 and a cordate-hastate leaf. Venezuela. Var. Caracasanum, C. 

 Koch(X. Caracnsanum. S<-hott. Colnrasia Cnrncanana, Eng.). 

 has Ivs. pale green beneath, tlip posterior lobes more produced 

 at the apex and tlio inidnlp ml nerves often rosy. Cnracas. - 

 X. MafAffa, Schott (Colocusia Mafaffa, Hort.), closely allied to 

 the preceding, has a similar eandes and a cordate-ovate leaf 

 but the posterior cost are separated by a right or arute an- 

 gle, the angle in the preceding species being obtuse \y -\[ 



XANTHOXYLUM (Greek, xanlhn*, yellow, and xy- 

 lon, w 1 1. Sometimes spelled Xaitth'triilu 111 . In- 

 cluding Viiii'ii-ii. lint '! a . PKK KI.V ASH. 'I 

 ACHE TREE. Ornamental deciduous m- 

 trees and shrubs, mostly prickly, with alternate <>dd- 

 pinnate or sometimes simple leaves anil small nr- 

 or whitish flowers in axillary clusters or terminal pani 

 cles followed by small e'apsular, often ornamental 

 fruits. A". . I i/i. / /i is the only -pe.'i. s which in 

 hardy north, but some of the species from E. Asia will 

 probably prove fairly hnrdy in the middle Atlantic 

 - iirnameiital slirubs they are valued rhietly 

 for their fruits, but some have hand-ome foliage also, 

 and A", lil'iiithniitr* is .'ailed by Siirt'ent one of the 

 most beautiful trees of Japan. They seem to be not 



