120 



THE AMERICAN BOTAKIST, 



Dahlia Roots Edible ?— According to the Scienti£c 

 American the dahha was originally grown in Europe for 

 its roots which were used as food. Roasted they are said 

 to be both toothsome and wholesome. Further observa- 

 tions along this line would be desirable. 



The Ways of Plant-lover and Botanist,— I sup- 

 pose we were a company of lunatics^ according to some 

 standards, to go into ecstacies over a mere handful of 

 plants; but that is one oi the privileges of the plant-lover^ 

 who may not be denied the expression of his pleasure in 

 finding these embroideries on nature's robe. The cold- 

 blooded botanist with book and vasculum often calmly 

 finds and as calmly appropriates for his cemetery of plant- 

 life, his herbarium, ever3^thing that makes the woods and 

 the meadows beautiful. The real plant-lover, who is not 

 disposed to pry too deeply into the intimate secrets of the 

 flowers he finds, enjo^^s them in their haunts and leaves 

 them there for others to enjoy; unless indeed he brings 

 them away by the camera's aid, for the pleasure ol many 

 others. — Country Life in America. 



Edible Arums. — The Gardening Worlds referring to a 

 recent note in this j ournal regarding the edible qualities of 

 the elephant's ear {Caladium esculentum) a member of 

 the arum family, notes that an English species Arum ItaU 

 icum known as Portland sago has been used as food. 

 Both these species are regarded as more or less poisonous 

 in the raw state, but cooking drives out the noxious qual- 

 ities. The arum family contains numerous plants of im- 

 portance to man, some being used for food or medicine 

 and others valued for their striking flowers. The skunk's 

 cabbage, jack-in-the-pulpit and green dragon belong to 

 this family and so does the sweet flag or calamus-root 

 {Acorus calamus). It is reported that the American 

 Indian formerly made great use of the seeds of the golden 

 club (Oronticum aquaticum) boiling and eating them as 

 we do peas. Certain lakes in the Eastern States are 

 thickly bordered with these plants which it is believed 

 were originally planted there by the Aborigines. 



