DESCEIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



207 



as long as that of the neutral staminodes, male inflorescence longer. Like the sweet 

 potato, ginger, and many other plants propagated by cuttings or suckers for the sake 

 of their roots, the'taro seldom flowers. 



In one variety growing in wet places many suckers are sent out from the base of 

 the stem, and the leaves and petioles are more or less purple; in another variety, 

 growing in the ci(5naga, or swamps, the petioles are green; in a third they are red- 

 dish. The favorite variety, planted in newly cleared land and on hillsides, has a 

 purplish area at the junction of the petiole with the blade. It is called ' ' suni Visaya. ' ' 

 The natives recognize at least eight varieties of suni. The large-leafed, coarser, cau- 

 lescent plants called "piga" are varieties of Alocasia, a genus which is distinguished 

 from Caladium in having the terminal appendage of the spadix marked with reticulate 

 furrows, and having few and basal ovules, while those of Caladium are many and 

 parietal. 



Suni was one of the principal food staples of the aboriginal inhabitants of Guam. 

 Not only are the farinaceous tuberous rootstocks eaten, biit also the young, tender 

 leaves, which, when cooked, taste somewhat like asparagus. All parts, but especially 

 the leaves, are extremely acrid, owing to the presence of sharp needle-like crystals 

 of oxalate of calcium, called raphides (see Pis. XI, XII, and XIII), and to destroy 

 this quality both leaves and rootstock must be thoroughly cooked." 



When the crop of taro is gathered the tops of the rootstocks are cut oft and 

 replanted at once. They quickly take root and mature in about a year. Taro is 

 cooked in various ways in Guam, but is never made into poi (fermented paste) as in 

 Hawaii. Land taro, together with bananas and plantains, is the first thing to be 

 planted in newly cleared ground. The climate of Guam seems to be admirably 

 suited to its cultivation. Taro is a food staple in all island groups in the Pacific and 

 in many other parts of the tropical world. In Samoa many savory dishes are pre- 

 pared with both the rootstock and the young leaves of taro combined with the rich, 

 creamy juice expressed from grated kernels of ripe coconuts, as well as with other 

 ingredients. 



The roots are characterized by a high percentage of carbohydrates, of which starch 

 is the most important, and by a, low percentage of fat, protein, and crude fiber. 

 They have the consistency of a sweet potato, and a microscopical examination shows 

 that the starch of which they are principally composed is in the form of very small 

 grains. The crude protein of an albuminoid nature is in somewhat greater propor- 

 tion than that found in the potato. Though offering no especial advantage over 

 other farinaceous roots, taro is a very good substitute for them, and Europeans living 

 in the Tropics soon acquire a taste for it, though at first it strikes them as insipid. 

 In Hawaii taro prepared in the form of poi is very popular with the white residents. 

 Taro is imported into the United States from Canton and the Hawaiian Islands, and 

 is sold in large quantities in the Chinese markets of San Francisco. It is successfully 

 grown in southern California, but it there requires an abundant artificial supply of 

 water. The Florida Experiment Station has also succeeded in growing it, and reports 

 satisfactory results. 6 In tropical countries where potatoes can not be grown and where 

 the cultivation of yams is attended with care and labor, taro in its various forms is a 

 great blessing to the inhabitants. It grows almost spontaneously both in swamps 

 and on dry land, and it yields an abundance of wholesome, nutritious food, which, 

 with the occasional addition of meat, legumes, or other nitrogenous foods to supply 

 protein, is quite sufficient to sustain life. 



It is interesting to note that the Guam name of this plant reappears in Madagascar 



"■ For full account see p. 69, above. 



6 See Blasdale, Chinese vegetable food materials, Bull. No. 68, U. S. Dept. Agr., 

 Off. Exper. Stations, pp. 13 to 15, 1899. Also, Florida Exper. Station Report, 1896, 

 p. 9. 



