EDIBLE STEMS AND LEAVES 



somewhat resembling them, are several species of 

 Dasylirion, but the leaves, which form a crown upon 

 a central stem, are much narrower and the small 

 flowers are white and constructed on the plan of the 

 lily. They are called, in popular parlance. Bear- 

 grass, from Bruin's fondness for the tender stalks, 

 or more generally by their Mexican name, Sotol. 

 The budding flower-stalks are to some extent used 

 like mescal — roasted and eaten. So, too, the beauti- 

 ful Yucca Whipplei, Torr., abundant throughout 

 ,Sonthem California and adjacent regions, has been 

 made to add variety to the aboriginal menu. The 

 splendid flower masses of this plant, several feet in 

 length and rising in pure white spires out of a 

 bristling clump of slender, rigid, spine-tipped 

 leaves, are a famous sight in parts of the Southwest. 

 Americans call this Yucca "Spanish Bayonet," or 

 sometimes more poetically "The Lord's Candle." 

 To Mexicans it is quiote, one of the many Aztec 

 terms that survive with little mutilation in the 

 Spanish dialect of the Southwest. The flower-stalk, 

 when full grown but before the buds expand, is filled 

 with sap and is edible, cut into sections and either 

 boiled or roasted in the ashes. The tough rind 

 should first be peeled off. The flower buds, too, 



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