761 



(Dollinger, Herb. Kew). An infusion of Adrue Root i? used 

 in fevers, W. Indies (Mus. Kew). 



Stems 3-6 ft. high ; common in low-lying ground. 



Cyperus auricomus, Sieber; Fl. Trop. Afr. VIII. p. 373. 

 Vernac. name. — Gizgiri (Hausa, Dalziel). 



Nupe, Sokoto. 



Tuberous roots sUghtly fragrant, used Hke " Kajiji," Sokoto 

 (Dalziel, No. 548, 1911, Herb. Kew; Hausa, Bot. Voc. p. 39). 



Stems 3-4 ft. high, found growing in marshy places, Sokoto 

 Province (Dalziel, I.e.), margins of pools, Nupe (Barter, Herb. 

 Kew). 



Cyperus esculentus, Linn.; Fl. Trop. Afr. VIII. p. 355. 



/ZZ.— Transv. Agric. Journ. iii. Oct. 1904-July 1905, t. 50; 

 Transv. Dept. Agric. Rep. 1903-04, t. 5; McAtee, U.S. Dept. 

 Agric. Bull. No. 465, 1917, ff. 27, 28. 



Vernac. names. — Aya (Hausa, Dalziel); Watuje (Fufulde, 

 Dalziel); N'ton (French West Africa, Chevalier); Finches 

 (Transvaal, Burtt Davy); Chufu (U. States, Piper, McAtee); 

 Chufas (S. Europe, Mus. Kew).— Tiger Nut, Zulu Nut, Nut Sedge, 



Rush Nut, Earth Almond. 



River Niger, Abinsi, Sokoto, etc., in Nigeria, Cameroons, and 



and in nearly all warm countries including 

 S. Europe, where it is said to be a native. 



Mozambiq 



(Mus. Kew), roasted 



and eaten by the natives Damaraland (Herb. Kew); a form 

 with large tubers is cultivated on a large scale in Southern 

 Soudan, on the Gold Coast, Ivory Coast and Upper Dahomey 

 (Chevaher, Bull. Soc. Nat. d'Accl. France, 1912, p. 346); 

 cultivated for its small edible tuber, Hausaland (Dalziel, Hausa 

 Bot, Voc. p. 9). "Aya " is a staple food in Yola amongst the 



Mohammedan 



mi 



f} 



Kew 



Bull. 1910, p. 141) ; roots used as food in India, 

 where they are also officinal under the name " Kaseru " (Diet. 

 Econ. Prod. India); valuable as a duck food. United States, 

 (McAtee, I.e.) where also the tubers are eaten as human food or 

 pastured to hogs (Piper, seq. p. 596). 



The tubers (air dried) have been found to contain 28 per cent, 

 of fatty substances and 43 per cent, of carbohydrates (Czapek 

 Bioch. der Pflanzen, i. p. 137), the leaves have shown on analysis 

 7-1 per cent, water content, 14-01 per cent, fibre in fresh material 

 and 15*3 per cent, fibre in dry material (I.e. p. 534). 



A low growing perennial, forming tufts of stiff, pointed, almost 

 triangular, leaves. In France the plant is propagated in April 

 or May either from the tubers or by division of the tufts ; the 

 crop is gathered in October or November, and may be stored for 

 the winter (Vilmorin-Andrieux, PI. Potageres, p. 659). In the 

 Southern States, U.S. America, the plant is propagated by tubers, 

 nlanff^fl in snrincr abmit 1 ft. aoart in TOWS wide enough -to admit 



