NOTES ON HEL1ANTHUS TUBEROSUS. 203 



the bignes of a man's head," etc. These must be the " Tubera 

 terras maxima," of Clayton, "vulgo Tuckahoo," which (iio- 

 novius (Fl. Virgin. 205) refers to Lycoperdon solidum, L., 

 and for which Rafinesque (Med. Fl. ii. 270) proposed a new 

 genus Tucahus. Kalm describes them (Travels, i. 225) as 

 " Truffles." Fries (El. Fung. ii. 39) assigns them to his 

 Pachyma cocos. 



Writing in haste and with frequent interruptions, it has 

 been possible to do little more than copy, with »nt condensing 

 or arranging, such notes as I had before me. V have ex- 

 tended to such a length that I must not add even an apology 

 for the superfluous matter. Yours truly, 



J. H. Tkumijull. 



It would be interesting to know whence came the Frendfl 

 name of these Helianthus tubers, " Topinambour," it being 

 the only thing in the case which, as Mr. Trumbull remarks, 

 "looks to a Brazilian origin, as it seems to be derived (and 

 so Littre gives it) from the Topinamboux Indians of Brazil." 

 The English name, " Jerusalem Artichoke," conies, as is well 

 known, from the Italian " Girasola," i. e. Sunflower. 



As to the annual Sunflower, or Helianthus (in nuns, said by 

 Linnaeus to come from Peru and Mexico, I have for some 

 years been convinced that its original is the //. henticularis 

 of Douglas, which again is probably only a larger form of //. 

 petiolaris of Nuttall, natives of the western part of the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley and of the plains to and beyond the B<- iky 

 Mountains. It is an interesting confirmation of this opinion 

 that Sagard (as mentioned in the above communication) and 

 Champlain found this Sunflower in cultivation by the Huron 

 Indians, for the sake of the oil of its seeds, which they used 

 for hair-oil. 



