52 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES BITTER 



plant of the Purslane family (Portulace^). It is a native of 

 ITortli America from Canada to Oregon. It has long, fleshy tap 

 roots, about the thickness of young radishes, producing a rosette 

 of succulent leaves, from the centre of which rises a brilliant 

 pink flower that opens only during sunshine, and, with the 

 leaves, is of short duration. The root is white internally, 

 almost entirely composed of starch, and might with propriety 

 be called starch-root. It forms an article of food to the Indians. 

 In preparing the root, the cuticle is removed, the root is then 

 cut into small pieces, steeped in water, and then boiled, when it 

 swells to five or six times its size, and resembles a jeUy-like 

 substance. It is much valued by Indians as well as by 

 Europeans, who consider it a wholesome food. It is, however, 

 very expensive, as it takes a long time to collect a sackful ; the 

 Indians trade in it by handfuls, and charge a high price. It 

 received the specific name red^viva on account of the tenacity 

 of life in the roots ; instances have been recorded of its having 

 flowered after having been in the herbarium two, and one at 

 Eew, three years. In Oregon the Indians call it Spaetlum. 



Bitter-root, Natal (GerrardantJms macovrhiza). — This is 

 also one of the Gourd family (Cucurbitaceas), and has tuberous 

 roots 2 to 3 feet in diameter and 1 to 2 feet thick, similar to the 

 preceding ; it produces slender stems borne by tendrils ; its 

 leaves are hastate ; it is intensely bitter, and used by the natives 

 in medicine. 



Bitter-sweet {Solanum Dulcamara), a slender -stemmed, 

 straggling plant of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae) growing 

 abundantly in hedges, which in autumn it adorns with its 

 bunches of beautiful red berries, that have the appearance of 

 currants, and being sweet and tempting are frequently eaten by 

 children, to whom serious consequences have often occurred. 

 It is recorded that thirty berries kiUed a dog in three hours, 

 and fatal instances are given of children having died from eating 

 them, which shows the necessity of guarding children against 

 them. A great number of virtues are ascribed to this plant, 

 even as far back as the time of Theophrastus, who called it Vitis 



