EDIBLE STEMS AND LEAVES 



in tannin and having been long used by the Indians 

 in treating skins. The tannin is extracted by leach- 

 ing the dried and ground roots. 



To the same family belongs the vast western genus 

 Eriogonum, which includes that famous honey plant 

 of the Pacific coast known as Wild Buckwheat. 

 Some members of this genus are prized by the 

 Indians and children for the refreshing acidity of 

 the young stems — a quality of distinct value in the 

 arid regions where many of them grow and where 

 one is "a long way from a lemon." Among such 

 is Eriogonum inflatum, T. & F., the so-called 

 "Desert Trumpet" or "Pickles," found abundantly 

 on the southwestern desert as far north as Utah and 

 eas-tward to New Mexico. It is remarkable for its 

 bluish-green, leafless stalks, hollow and puffed out 

 like a trumpet, sometimes to the diameter of an inch 

 or, so, and rising out of a radical cluster of small 

 heart-shaped leaves. The stems before flowering 

 are tender and are eaten raw. 



The peppery, anti-scorbutic juices of the Mustard 

 family supply a valuable element in the human 

 dietary everywhere; and besides the important vege- 

 tables and condiments that represent it in our 

 gardens — such as cabbage, turnips, radishes, horse- 

 radish, etc. — there are several species growing wild 



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