§2 



produce only very small roots of a bitterish taste. 

 It is distinguished by two different species, and more 

 than thirty varieties, several of which are carefully 

 cultivated. The first is the common kind ; the se- 

 cond, called solanum cari, bears white flowers with 

 a large nectary in the middie like the narcissus ; its 

 root is cylindrical and very sweet. The usual mode 

 of cooking it is by roasting it under the ashes. 



The oca (oxalis tuberosa) appears to be of a dif- 

 ferent kind from the oca of Peru ; in its form and 

 fructification it resembles the yellow wood sorrel ; 

 its leaves are disposed by threes, and are of an acid 

 taste, and the flowers are oval ; its root extends 

 itself into five or six tuberosities of three or four 

 inches in length, covered with a thin smooth skin. 

 They are eaten cooked, and have a pleasant subacid 

 taste. This plant is also, like the potatoe, multiplied 

 by means of its bulbs ; there are several species of 

 it, one of which, called by the Chilians red tail, 

 is held in much estimation for dying, and is consi- 

 dered as a specific in inflammatory fevers. Among 

 them is likewise the barilla, or the alleluia virgosa of 

 Coquimbo : This last produces but a few radical 

 trilocated leaves ; its stalks, which are numerous, 

 are very tender, and of an acid taste ; they are 

 five feet in length, of the size of a man's finger, and 

 covered with yellow flowers suspended in vertical 

 bells. 



Of the gourd, two principal species are known in 

 Chili, the white flowered, and the yellow flowered, 

 or the Indian gourd. Of the first kind, called by the 



