78 



THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN. 



Asparagus LuciDus, Lindl. (.4./(;/crt/«j-,Thunb.); Jap., 

 Kusa-sugi-kadzura. On this page is represented a plant 

 with its tubers as I pulled it from the ground. This 

 peculiar plant has a twining stem 12 to 15 feet long, and 

 fleshy roots or tubers, rich in starch. The vine would 

 be well worth cultivation here for ornament. The slen- 

 der herbaceous stems are thickly clothed with short- 

 pointed and sharply triangular leaves. On a trellis it 

 forms a graceful and dense dark green covering. 



Batatas edolis, Choisy {Ipomcca Batatas, Lam. ; Con- 

 volvulus Batatas, L. ; C. edulis, Thunb.); Jap., Satsiiiiia- 

 imo, Riiikiii-imo. (The Sweet-Potato.) There are few 



more important vegetables in Japan than the sweet- 

 potato. It is cultivated to the northern limit of its suc- 

 cessful growth, and constitutes an important part of the 

 food of the people. All authorities agree that the sweet- 

 potato was brought to Japan from China. According to 

 a Japanese author, the sweet-potato was brought to the 

 Riukiu (Loo Choo) Islands from China about seven 

 hundred years ago : so it has been there long enough to 

 feel at home. 



The sweet-potato is there always grown as a second 

 crop, being planted late in June between the rows of 

 barley or wheat. The growing season being thus but 



short, the yield is not so large as it would be if it were 

 planted earlier. This drawback is still further empha- 

 sized by the fact that the farmers carefully cut the roots 

 from the young plants when they draw them from the 

 seed-bed, and plant only the tops as cuttings. The plant 

 is thus still further delayed in its growth by the length 

 of time it takes to form roots. The seed-bed is a rude 

 kind of hotbed, made of grass, leaves and rubbish, on 

 which the potatoes are laid, the smallest ones being 

 selected for seed. All varieties that came under my ob- 

 servation were fibrous and tough, and lacked sweetness. 

 They would be considered poor in this country. 



Canna Indica, L. ; Jap., 

 Dattdoku, and other spe- 

 cies are rarely cultivated 

 for the starch contained in 

 their large fleshy roots. 

 Some of them, as C. edulis, 

 Edwards, and C. coccinea, 

 Rose, yield a superior 

 kind of arrowroot. 



COLOCASIA ANTIQUORUM, 



Schott.; Jap., Sato-imo, 

 Into , Aka-imo, Ugu-imo, 

 Yaisu-gashira. Few plants 

 cultivated for their roots 

 are of more importance 

 than this. It is quite gen- 

 erally grown as a farm 

 crop throughout the coun- 

 try, and it furnishes a con- 

 siderable percentage of the 

 food of the people. The 

 plant is well known in 

 America for its ornamen- 

 tal qualities, the large dark 

 green leaves, commonly 

 called elephant's ears, 

 forming a striking contrast 

 t o other plants. I n Ja- 

 pan it is cultivated for the 

 tuberswhich form in abun- 

 dance about the old root. 

 They are usually prepared 

 by boiling like potatoes, 

 and then served with 

 shoyu. They have a pleas- 

 ant starchy taste, though they are of rather close, or 

 sometimes pasty texture, but not fibrous. Why they 

 should be called Sato-itno (sugar-potato) is not apparent, 

 for they are not at all sweet. The culture is similar to 

 that of potatoes. The yield reaches 150 to 200 bushels 

 per acre, The leaf-stalks are also used for food, being 

 prepared by peeling off the outer fibrous layer, and hung 

 in the sun to dry for winter use. 



The illustration on page 81 shows a plant of a small 

 red variety called the Ingo-imo, just as I pulled it from 

 the ground, reduced to one-fourth natural size. There is 

 fully as much difference in the eating-qualities of the 



