USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



There they caught the popular taste and under the 

 name of pommes de Canada, batatas de Canada or 

 Canadiennes, thteir cultivation spread. In Italy they 

 were grown in the famous Farnese gardens and 

 called girasole artidocco, that is, Sunflower arti- 

 choke. A perverted pronunciation of the Italian by 

 the English (who became interested in the plant and 

 were growing it extensively as early as 1621) ac- 

 counts for the otherwise unaccountable association 

 of Jerusalem with it. The tubers (borne at the tip 

 of horizontal rootstocks) are in the wild plant but 

 an inch or two in diameter, but in cultivation they 

 may be much larger, as well as better flavored. 

 They reach their maximum development in the au- 

 tumn, when they may be taken up and stored in 

 pits for winter use; or, since frost does not injure 

 them, they may be left in the ground all winter, and 

 dug in the spring. In spite of the Jerusalem Arti- 

 choke's popularity as a vegetable abroad, Americans 

 have so far been indifferent to it, except as feed for 

 cattle and hogs — another instance of the prophet's 

 lack of honor in his own country.* 



1 There are about 40 species of wild sunflowers growing within 

 the borders of the United States, and it is not always easy to 

 identify some given species. The Artichoke Sunflower is a perennial 

 with hairy, branching stems 6 to 12 feet tall, and rough, ovate leaves, 

 taper pointed, toothed at the edges, 4 to 8 inches long and 1% 

 to 3 inches wide, narrowing at the base to a rather long footstalk. 



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