SUCCULENT ROOTS AND THEIR USE AS FOOD. 17 



Wild ginger {Asarum canacle7ise) , or the snakeroot of our northern 

 woods, may also be mentioned. The spicy, aromatic root of this 

 plant was gathered quite commonly in earlier times and dried, being 

 used like many other wild plants in domestic medicine. Its use as a 

 condiment was also common, a bit of the dried root being carried 

 about and nibbled at odd times in the same way as calamus and dried 

 orris root. In pioneer cookery it occasionally took the place of some 

 more common spice, and does now, the fresh root being used to some 

 extent like true ginger in pickle making. It also can be candied. 



Laboratory tests have shown that both flagroot and wild ginger 

 root used in cookery in small quantities in place of other spices give 

 a distinctive flavor which many would consider pleasant. 



Another native American root — sassafras — which has some impor- 

 tance for condimental purposes, may be mentioned here. The bark 

 of the root yields a flavoring extract more used in confectionery 

 making than in the home. However, it is interesting to know that 

 tea made from this root, which was once so common a beverage 

 under the name of " saloop," is still used to some extent in parts of 

 the United States, both in the home and com^nercially. 



SUMMARY. 



The plants which store their reserve material in underground 

 roots, tubers, and bulbs have, in many instances, come to be regarded 

 by man as among the most important foodstuffs. Cultivation has 

 to a great extent modified the size, structure, flavor, and appear- 

 ance of the parts which are eaten, and the garden varieties are as 

 a rule superior to the wild in these respects and show important 

 modifications in the season of growth and in other ways. As a 

 class the edible roots, tubers, and bulbs may be divided into the 

 following groups: (1) Starch-yielding vegetables, as potatoes, sweet 

 potatoes, dasheens, etc.; (2) succulent roots, as beets, carrots, and 

 parsnips; and (3) condimental or flavoring roots, as horse-radish 

 and ginger. 



The edible roots, tubers, and bulbs have a high water content 

 and are valued as additions to the diet for their appetizing, succu- 

 lent qualities and the bulk which they give, as well as for the nutri- 

 tive material which they supply. Starch is the material most com- 

 monly stored in the underground receptacles, though it is replaced 

 in some plants by closely related bodies such as inulin, mannin, etc., 

 by sugars of different sorts, pectoses, or other carbohydrates. The 

 proportion of nitrogenous material in such foodstuffs is small, and 

 true albumin seldom constitutes more than a third of the total pro- 

 tein. The proportion of fat is also small, being composed in some 

 cases very largely of wax-like bodies found in the skin, or of color- 

 ing matter ; > and in other cases, of volatile oils and similar sub- 



