THE EDIBLE WILD ROOTS OF THE FARM 



61 



would have received more attention among us had it been 

 adapted by nature to ordinary field conditions. But it grows 

 in moist or even wet soil and in partial shade. The 

 Indian cucumber-root (Fig. 34) bears another sort of tuber 

 that might well qualify it for a place among our salad 

 plants, were the plant adapted to fields; but it grows in 

 leaf mold in the shade of dense thickets. 



The wild bulbs of the scaly sort that are edible, are the wild 

 onion and a few of its relatives, the wild leeks and garlics. 

 These are valued not for nutritive value, but for flavoring. 

 Here, again, the cultivated exotic varieties are superior to 

 the wild native ones. 



There are a number of interesting 

 wild aroids, producing solid bulbs or 

 corms, which were food for the red 

 man, but which we do not use. They 

 grow mostly in wet soil. They are the 

 arrow arum, the skunk cabbage, the 

 Jack-in-the-pulpit, etc. The related 

 taro is a valuable food plant in the 

 Hawaiian Islands and throughout the 

 South Seas. Like these, it is somewhat 

 coarse, and does not keep well after 

 gathering. So it gets into our markets 

 only after being dried and ground into 

 flour. The fierce acridity of the Jack-in- 

 the-pulpit, which renders it inedible 

 when raw, is entirely removed by cook- 

 ing. 



Among the aroids is another that is 

 worthy to be mentioned not as a food 

 plant, but as one that has been valued 

 for its pungency, and for the magic powers widely believed to 

 inhere in its root. It is the sweet flag (Acorus calamus, 



Fig. 34. Indian cucum- 

 ber-root (Medeola), an 

 excellent salad plant. 



