4 BULLETIN 84, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



There is no doubt that the udo is worthy of adding to our list of 

 spring vegetables, for it is easily grown, its shoots are readily 

 blanched, and it requires little care. A patch of it can be forced 

 every spring for at least six }:ears, and probably much longer. When 

 properly prepared its blanched shoots are delicious ; they have their 

 own characteristic flavor, can be prepared for the table in a great 

 variety of ways, and are keenly appreciated by people of discriminat- 

 ing taste. Space for space, udo will yield about the same amount of 

 focd for the table as asparagus and will be ready for use at about 

 the same time in the spring. Possibly more labor is required to 

 blanch the shoots of the udo than those of asparagus, but the udo is 

 probably somewhat easier to take care of and yields sooner. 



Fig. 5. 



-Plantation of udo one season from seed at the Arlington (Va.) Field Station, 

 1905. 



As an ornamental, udo has been known to nurserymen for twenty 

 years or more under the name of Aralia cordata Thunb. It might 

 be termed a rank-growing, shrubby perennial with a large, fleshy 

 rootstock (fig. 5). It dies down each fall after the first frost and 

 comes up again, much as asparagus and rhubarb do. It grows to a 

 height of 10 feet or more if on rich soil, producing a very ornamental 

 mass of large green leaves, and, in the late summer, long, loose 

 flower clusters, sometimes 3 feet in length. The flowers attract bees 

 and flies in great numbers, and as a honey plant the udo would appear 

 to warrant the attention of beekeepers (fig. G). A field of udo is 

 generally humming with insects. 



