78 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 



The flower being small and of more greenish color. The natives of Norton Sound eat the bulb, 

 but not to such a degree as the natives of the Aleutian Islands, where this plant is found in great- 

 est abundance and size on all the islands. The natives (Aleuts) consume great quantities of the 

 bulbs. During the mouths of September and August the women accompany the men who go out 

 hunting the geese, which are making their autumnal migration. The women dig the roots of this 

 lily and store them in huge grass sacks for winter's use. The bulbs are dug up with a copper or 

 iron rod, the dirt shaken off and exposed to the air to dry the remaining dirt, which is then re- 

 moved as much as possible. The bulbs are boiled with meat or simply in water; either way reduces 

 them to a pasty consistency, having about as much taste as so much boiled starch. When eaten 

 raw the bulblets have a bitter taste (the bitterness lies only in the thin skin which surrounds 

 them), and is at first difficult to acquire a taste for. Those plants which grow in rich, loose soil 

 form a bulb which is often 2 inches in diameter and an inch in thickness. This proves that by 

 cultivation these bulbs could be produced of such size that they might be used as a substitute 

 for the watery potatoes which are grown on some of the islands. The Russian-speaking people 

 call this plant sa ra nd, meaning lily. T.) 



Allium schcenoprasum, L., Port Clarence, Norton and Kotzebne Sounds, and rapids of Yukon 

 River. (A species of garlic occurs plentifully at Attu on the south side of the island. The natives 

 dig it in the latter part of August, and use the bulbs for seasoning geese and other water-fowl. It 

 is very strong, and when once eaten of is never forgotten. It does not, to my knowledge, occur on 

 the eastern islands of the Aleutian chain. T.) 



Zygudenus glaucus, Nutt., Kotzebne Sound, Port Clarence, Arctic coast, Fort Yukon. 



Yeratrum escJischoltzii, Gray. Sitka. 



Tofieldia coccinea, Richards., Kotzebue Sound, Chamisso Island, Cape Lisburne. 



T. glutinosa, Pursh. Sitka. 



T. borealis, L., abundant throughout the Aleutian Islands, growing along the little streams 

 which issue sluggishly from the ground. (T.) 



JUNCACEiE. 



Luzula pilosa, Willd., Sitka, Kotzebue Sound. 



{L. comosa var. congesta. Common throughout the western Aleutian Islands. T.) 



L. spadicea, D C. Sitka, Unalashka, Kotzebue Sound. 



(L. spadicea, D C, var. parviflora, Meter. Common throughout the western islands of the 

 Aleutian Chain. T.) 



L. arciiata, Wahl., Kotzebue Sound, Saint Lawrence, Unalashka. 



L. campestris, D C, Unalashka, Sitka, Kotzebue Sound. 



L. spicata, D C, Saint Lawrence, Kotzebue Sound. 



Juncus balticus, Dethard. Cape Espenberg, Norton Sound, Unalashka. 



J. areticus, Wield., Sitka. 



J. ensifolius, Wickstrom. Unalashka. 



(J. xiphioides var. triandrus, Eng., Common at Atkha and Attu. T.) 



J.falcatus, E. Meter. Unalashka, Sitka. 



J. castaneus, Smith. Sitka, Unalashka, Kotzebue Sound. (Common throughout the Aleutian 

 Islands. T.) 



J. biglumis, L., Kotzebue Sound. 



J. drummondi, Ledeb., Unalashka (to Attu. T.) 



J. paradoxus, Meyer, is given by Ledebour as a doubtful native of Sitka. 



CYPERACEiE. 



Sclrpus ccespitosus, L., Unalashka, Sitka. 

 S. sylvaticus, L., Sitka. 

 Erioplwrum vaginatum, L., Sitka. 



E. scheuchzeri, Hoppe. Kotzebue Sound and Sitka, fide Mertens. 



E. chamissonis, C. A. Meter. Sitka, Unalashka. (Abundant on the boggy places throughout 

 the Aleutian Islands. T.) 



