262 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



Geographi/. — The maranta is a tropical and subtropical plant ; it has been 

 found growing in Florida about the 28th parallel. 



Etymologji. — The name maranta is derived from Bartholomew Maranti, 

 a physician of Venice ; and the specific name, arundinacea, reed-like, is from 

 the Latin arundo, a reed. The popular name, arroiv-root, is said to have been 

 applied to this plant because of its efficacy in curing wounds inflicted by 

 poisoned arrows. 



History. — When this plant was introduced by civilized man into the materia 

 medica, or as a food plant, is not known, — evidently since the discovery of 

 the New World, as it is a native of tropical America. 



Chemistrij. — 100 parts of arrow-root yield to the chemist the following 

 substances : — 



Starch 26. 



Woody fiber 6. 



Albumen . . 1.50 



Gummy extract, volatile oil, and salts ... 1. 

 Water 65.50 



100.00 



Its starch-grains are convex-elliptical, approaching triangular shape, nearly 

 uniform in size. In commerce it is frequently adulterated with rice, flour, 



wheat-starch, or potato-starch. These 

 foreign substances are readily detected 

 by the microscope. 

 r-/ yst=&s ^^^' — '^^^ rhizomas when a year 



old are dug with instruments made of 

 German silver, and knives made of the 

 same metal are employed for remov- 

 ing the scales. They are then reduced 

 to a pulp in wooden mortars, or by 

 the use of a cylindrical rasp. The 

 mass is placed in water, which holds 

 it temporarily in suspension. After 

 straining to remove the woody fiber, 

 it is repeatedly stirred, and allowed to 

 settle, the water being afterward care- 

 fully poured off. The starchy sub- 

 stance which remains as a sediment is 

 s--^; then dried, either in the shade or sun- 



light. These manipulations are all 

 conducted with great care. After dry- 

 ing, it is reduced to powder or flour, 

 and is used for puddings, custards, 

 Maranta arundinacea (Arrowroot). ^^^^ Q^her culinary preparations. It is 



a favorite food for the sick-room. It 

 constitutes the principal food for the people of many tropical and subtropical 

 countries of the New World. In the West Indies it is administered to 

 counteract the effects of poisons. 



Tacca integrifoUa, Presl, and other species of this genus furnish starchy 

 products which are used as substitutes for arrow-root in the East Indies. 



