352 Trumbull and Gray— Helian thus tuberosus. 



tuberosum esculentum,"— and has been followed by later wri- 

 ters. The description seems to me to indicate Apios tuberosa.] 

 " Jx ,,J > '/" ■"' // '. ;i whirr kind of roots about the bignes of hen 

 egs and nere of that forme: their taste was not so good to our 

 seeming as of the other, and therefore their place and manner 

 of growing not so much cared for- by vs : the inhabitants 

 voiding vsed to boile and eat many." These may be 

 'Virginia potatoes,' but their nam, . if H.mi.i recorded it cor- 

 rectly, means 'San-tubers.' The etymology is perfectly dear* 

 r roots described by Hariot, " Okeepenauk are 'also of 

 round shape, found in dry grounds : some are of the bignes 

 of a man's head," etc. These must be the "Tubera terra 

 ton, "vulgo Tuckahoo," which Gronovius (Fl. 

 Virgin., .205) refers to Lycoperdon solidum L. and for which 

 L ii, 270) proposed a new genus '-Tucahus." 

 . i. 225) as "Truffles." Fries (El. 

 F'U';--. •■' •'" ii-ns them to his Pachyma cocos. 



W ritmg iu haste and with frequent interruptions, it has been 



possible to do little more than copy, without condensing or 



such notes as I had before me. They have extended 



to such a length that I must not add even an' apology for the 



superfluous matter. Yours truly, 



J. H. Tkumbull. 

 It would be interesting to know whence came the French 

 name of these Helianthus tubers, "Topinambour," it being the 

 . in the < ase which, as Mr. Trumbull remarks, "looks 

 to a Brazil-- 9 i be derived (and so Littre 



gives it) from the Topinamboux Indians of Biazi'l." The En- 

 glish name, "Jerusalem Artichoke," comes, as is well known, 

 from the Italian Oirasola, i. e., sun-flower. 



As to the annual sunflower, or /ft-h'ant/nts an, nuts, said by 

 Linnaeus to come from ; ' Peru" and " Mexico," I have for some 

 n convinced that its original is the H. lentiavari* of 

 Douglas, which again is probably only a larger form of H. 

 - Xuttall. natives of the western part of the Mivds- 

 and of the plains to and beyond the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. It is an interesting confirmation of this opinion, that 

 ! in the above communication) and Cham- 

 >d this sunflower in cultivation by the Huron In- 

 die sake of the oil of its seeds, which they used for 



