228 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



the plant. Jatropha is derived from two Greek words; tarpos, physician, 

 and rpo(pr), food, due to the fact that physicians order it as food for invalids. 

 Api, Ai/pi, or Aipi, is an ancient native name, whose meaning is unknown. 

 Cassava, like tapioca, is a native name, whose signification is obscure. 



Cultivation. — The root grows best in loose, dry, well-fertilized, sandy loam. 

 During the first month or six Aveeks it needs rain or irrigation ; after that, it 

 grows well without either, and is the most productive and valuable crop to be 

 made in its region, far exceeding either coffee, sugar, or cotton. One acre will 

 produce about 4,000,000 of pounds when the root is full grown, that is, 

 from a year to eighteen months after planting, which is done by plunging 

 ^slips of the plant into small prepared hillocks of sand, or by burying a section 

 of a stem containing a bud. The M. api varieties mature in about eight 

 months. 



Preparation. — The roots of the varieties of the M. api species are not poi- 

 sonous ; they are prepared by roasting, and have the taste of roasted chestnuts. 

 The varieties of the M. utilissima produce the larger roots, which are prepared 

 as follows : The natives peel the roots, then reduce them to pulp by rasping 

 them upon a rude grater made by inserting rough fragments of stones in a 

 piece of bark ; the juice is then forced out by allowing it to drain in loosely 

 made baskets, and then baking the pulp in ovens ; or it is made into flat cakes 

 baked or dried upon hot stones. 



The tapioca brought to market is largely made by reducing the roots by 

 circular rasps or graters turned by water, placed into coarse bags, the juice 

 being removed by a press. The pulp is then subjected to heat in open ovens 

 or on iron plates, and constantly stirred till dry. 



Farina is the coarse meal made from the root, universally used by the 

 Brazilians. The fine siftings make the tapioca. 



Use. — The fresh-grated pulp, and the juice which is expressed from it, is 

 charged with a substance analogous to prussic acid ; yet when the pulp and 

 the juice are subjected to heat, the poisonous character disappears, and the 

 pulp is turned into a wholesome starchy food that sustains life in large and 

 densely populated districts, and is used for puddings for dessert, and for 

 invalid food, all over Europe and the United States. 



The root, cut in slices and exposed to heat, is an excellent food for cattle. 

 The natives of Brazil make a fermented liquor of the juice, which is highly 

 intoxicating. 



The fresh juice has been administered to cats and dogs, which die with con- 

 vulsions in about twentv-five minutes. Thirty-six drops administered to a 

 criminal caused death in six minutes. 



RICINTJS, Tourn. Flowers monoecious, valvate in the bud ; sepals 

 narrow and reddish, 3 to 5 in number ; no corolla ; stamens numerous ; 

 filaments repeatedly branching ; anthers from the tops of the branches 

 of the filaments ; ovary globose, 3-celled, 1 ovule in a cell ; style short ; 

 stigmas 3-bifid, plumose, and colored ; capsule large, 3-celled, covered 

 with blunt, rough spines ; seeds large, oily, somewhat in shape of a 

 tick that infests sheep. Annual. 



R. communis, L. (Castor-oil Plant.) Stem round, stout, frosted or glaucous, 

 white, shining, purplish, red towards the top, 6 to 12 feet in height in the 

 middle United States, reaching 1.5 to 20 feet in hot climates, Avhere it is peren- 

 nial. Leaves alternate, on long petioles, 6 to 10 inches in diameter; subpeltate 



