138 THE NATUEAIIST IN BEEMUDA. 



Prickly Pear {Cactus optmtia). Grows wild aU over the 

 islands. 



Cochineal Plant, or Indian Pig (C cocMnillifer). In 

 gardens. 



Scarlet-flowered Sage {Salvia coccinea). Eoad sides. 



Common Sage Bush {Lantana salvifolid). All over the 

 islands, wherever the land remaias uncultivated. It forms 

 the natural underwood of the islands. 



Bamboo Cane {Arundo damhos). In lofty clumps. 



Cultivated Eeed {A. fax). 



Arrow-Eoot {Maranta arundinacea). Few there are ia 

 England, who have not heard of the far-famed Bermudian 

 Arrow-root, so highly prized as a light digestible food for 

 invalids. The following remarks upon its cultivation and 

 manufacture, by a gentleman resident ia the islands, are 

 too valuable to be omitted :— " This plant, as tradition 

 informs us, was brought here from Charlestown, South 

 Carolina; and, from its name, 'Indian Arrow-root,' must, 

 I think, have been called so, from the resemblance of the 

 end of the root, to the arrow used by the native tribes, 

 The root, or stick, grows in the following shape, and the 

 stem varies from two to four feet in height, the root 

 seldom or ever being over an inch and a half in 

 diameter, at the biggest, or lower end. I have seen 

 as many as eighteen, and twenty sticks, or roots, 

 growing from one stem. There is much trouble in 

 digging this plant up, which process takes place 

 during the months of January, February, and March. The 

 root, at each joint, is covered with a skin, which is of a 

 thick substance, and, as the root ripens, resembles a bit of 

 gauze, and, when quite ripe, comes off almost as soon as 



