. roots. 
ESCULENT PLANTS OF 
short, but of so generally interesting a 
character, that we are persuaded our read- 
ers will not be displeased at seeing the 
account transferred to these pages. 
ON THE ROOTS AND OTHER INDIGENOUS 
ESCULENTS OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 
The most extensively diffused eatable 
roots of Van Diemen's Land, are those of 
the Tara Fern, and of various plants of 
the Orchis Tribe. The former greatly re- 
sembles Pteris aquilina, the common 
Fern, Brake, Breckon, or Bracken of 
England, and like it, throws up its single 
stems at short distances, covering great ex- 
tents of light and rich land. The Van 
Diemen's Land plant is Pteris esculenta, 
called, among the Aborigines, by the 
name of Zara; the same appellation as is 
given by the inhabitants of the South Sea 
Islands to a variety of esculent seeds and 
Pteris esculenta is known among 
the European inhabitants as the Fern, in 
common with many other plants of the 
same tribe ; none of which, however, spread 
over extensive portions of open land in the 
same manner. It varies in height from a 
few inches to several feet, according to the 
richness of the soil, and in some parts of 
the colony is so tall as to conceal a man on 
horseback. The root is not bulbous, but 
creeps horizontally at a few inches below 
the surface of the earth, and when luxuri- 
ant, attains the thickness of a man’s thumb. 
Pigs feed upon this root where it has been 
turned up by the plough, and in sandy 
soils they will themselves grub up the earth 
in search of it. The Aborigines roast it 
in the ashes, peeling off its black skin with 
their teeth and eating it as sauce to their 
roasted Kangaroo, &c., in the same manner 
as Europeans use bread. The root of the 
Tara Fern possesses much nutritive mat- 
ter; yet it is observed that persons who 
have been reduced to the use of it, in long 
excursions through the bush, have become 
very weak, though it has supported life. 
Whether this arose from an insufficient 
supply, in consequence of the parties be- 
ing too much exhausted to dig it up before 
they resorted to it, or from eating it raw, 
VAN DIEMEN’S LAND. 39 
or some other cause, I am not able to de- 
termine. It is quite certain that when this 
substance is grated or reduced to a pulp 
y beating and mixing with cold water, a 
large quantity of Arrow Root is precipi- 
tated, which adheres to the bottom of the 
vessel, and which may easily be prepared 
for use by pouring off the water and float- 
ing matter, adding fresh water, and stirring 
up the white powder and again allowing it 
to settle. It may then be cooked by boil- 
ing, or the powder may be spread on cloths 
and dried in the sun, or hung up in linen 
bags, where there is a free circulation of 
air. Many vegetables yield Arrow Root, 
which, when well prepared, cannot be dis- 
tinguished from that produced by the Ma- 
ranta arundinacea ; but it is essentially 
necessary, from whatever it is obtained, 
that it be dried quickly, without great heat, 
as too much heat renders it gluey. 
Small bulbs of the Orchis Tribe of plants 
are very generally diffused over the open 
and thinly wooded parts of Van Diemen’s 
Land; they are eaten by the Aborigines, 
and by Cockatoos, Bandicoots and Kanga- 
roo Rats, &c. Little holes are often seen 
where the latter animals have been scratch- 
ing for them. Gastrodia sesamoides, a plant 
of this tribe, which springs particularly 
fram the decaying roots of the Stringy 
Bark (Eucalyptus robusta) produces 
bulb-tubers, growing one out of another, 
of the size and nearly the form of kidney 
potatoes, the lowermost being attached by 
a bundle of thick fleshy fibres to the base 
of the tree whence it derives its nourish- 
ment. These roots are roasted and eaten 
by the Aborigines; they resemble beet- 
root in taste, and are sometimes called in 
the Colony Native Fotatoes. 
There are also a few other native plants, 
producing small tubers, which are eaten by 
the aboriginal population, but none of them 
are worthy of being compared with the 
common Potato or Turnep. 
The native Blacks of Van Diemen's 
Land split open about a foot and a half of 
the top of the trunk of the common Tree 
Fern of the Colony (Cybotium Billardi- 
eri) and taking out the heart, which re- 
