NEW FOOD PLANTS. 371 



ordinary circumstances, the tropical colonies of Great Britain, 

 without diminishing the quantity of sugar and coffee they produce, 

 could advantageously supply the British market with the purest 

 starches, and possibly also with various other articles of farina- 

 ceous food. Anything that will lead the planters to a more 

 varied cultivation than the present uniform and persistent one, 

 will be advantageous to our colonies ; and the growth of farin- 

 aceous root crops for exportation, cannot fail to produce most 

 beneficial effects on that class of the peasantry in the British 

 possessions, who are owners of small lots of land, which at present 

 they either totally neglect, or cultivate most imperfectly. 



In 1846, Dr. A. Gresner, one of my correspondents, called at- 

 tention, in my " Colonial Magazine," to two indigenous roots of 

 North America, which he thought deserving special attention. 

 These were Apios tuberosa, and Claytonia acutiflora, or Virginiana. 



1. A. tuberosa (Boerhave), or Olycine Apios. This plant ia 

 common throughout the Northern and Southern States of America, 

 and is also met with in the lower British North American Provinces. 

 It is known under the native name of Saa-ga-ban by the Micmac 

 Indians, by whom the pear-shaped roots are used as an article of 

 food. Like the AracJiis hypogoea, it belongs to the Leguminosae 

 family. The fruit and flower resemble those of the wood vetch. 

 It is thus described in Professor Eaton's " Manual of Botany 

 for North America," published in 1836: " Color of corolla, blue 

 and purple ; time of flowering, July (and August in Nova Scotia), 

 perennial ; stem, twining ; leaves, pinnate, with seven lance- ovate 

 leaflets ; racemes shorter than the leaves, axillary ; root, tuberous. 

 Boot very nutritive ; ought to be generally cultivated." 



The average size of the tubers is that of cherries, but a few are 

 found of much larger dimensions. In their appearance they 

 resemble the common potato, having apparently the peculiar in- 

 dentations called eyes. The skin of the tuber is of a rusty or 

 blackish brown color. The interior is very white, and the root has 

 the taste and odor of the common potato. The Indians state that 

 the roots, if kept either in a dry or moist state, will not suffer any 

 decay for a lengthened period. They are very farinaceous, and 

 contain a large per centage of starch, which resembles that of 

 wheat ; by being dried the tuber shrinks a little, but it immediately 

 expands on being thrown into warm water. It contains much 

 nutritive matter, is wholesome, and I have no doubt, if properly 

 cultivated, it will prove to.be very prolific. The tubers are situated 

 a few inches below the surface of the soil, and are strung together 

 like beads by a strong ligament. 



A similar kind of earth-nut, or tuberous root, probably the 

 Glycine subterranea of Linnaeus, the Yoandzou of Madagascar, is 

 extensively cultivated in various parts of Africa. 



2. Glay'tonia acutiflora or Virginiana, the Musquash of the 

 Micmac Indians, is found throughout the Northern and Southern 

 States of North America. It is thus described by Prof. Eaton, 

 " Man. Bot. N. A," " Color of corolla, white and red; situation, 



2 B 2 



