Ordke VI. 
DICECIA HEXANDllIA. 
839 
13927 Stem prickly rounded, Leaves ovate oblong acute subpanduriform obsoletely cordate 5-nervcd 
13928 Steins prickly rounded, Leaves oblong acute unarmed 5-nerved smooth, Petioles with tendrils 
13929 Stem prickly rounded, Leaves ovate mucronate 5-nerve<l 
139j0 Stem unarmed angular. Leaves cordate ovate acute ciliate prickly 7-nerved 
13931 Stem unarmed angular, Leaves ovate 5-nerved smooth subcordate or obtuse at base, Petioles with tendrils 
13932 Stem unarmed angular. Leaves ovate acuminate 7-nerved, Common pedunc. of umbel longer than leaf 
13933 Stem unarmed rounded. Leaves unarmed lanceolate 
13934 Stem unarmed rounded. Leaves obi. lane, acute 3-nerved smooth glaucous beneath. Petioles with tendrils 
13935 Stem unarmed i-ounded. Leaves oblong acute cordate about S-nerved soft with down beneath 
13936 Stem unarmed rounded. Leaves unarmed : cauline cordate ; of the branches ovate-oblong 5-nerved 
13937 Stem unarm, round. Lvs. roundish ov. cord. acum. 9-nerv. Peduncles of fr.-bear. umbel longer than leaves 
13938 Stem prickly, Lvs. unarmed rounded ovate mucronulate about 7-nerv. glauc. beneath, Pedunc. about 2-fl. 
13939 Stem angular prickly. Leaves ovate subcordate rather obtuse mucronate coriaceous 5-nerved denticulate 
13940 Stem prickly square, Leaves unarmed hastate oblong obtuse mucronate about 7-nerved 
13941 Leaves cordate undivided 
13942 Leaves 3-lobed 
13943 Leaves reniform entire 
13944 Leaves ovate lanceolate cordate 7-nerved 
13945 Leaves alternate digitate. Leaflets 5 oblong acuminate veiny. Stem aculeate bulbiferous 
13946 Leaves alternate roundish cordate acuminate 7-nerved, Stem aculeate bulbiferous 
13947 Leaves opposite ovate cordate-sagittate cuspidate 7-nerved, Stem winged bulbiferous 
13948 Leaves alternate cordate roundish ovate acuminate about 9-ncrved, Stem smooth bulbiferous [round 
13949 Lvs. altern. cord, round, ov. cuspid, about 9-nerv. : lobes of base close together. Caps. obov. Stem smooth 
13950 Leaves alternate ternate, Leaflets obi. acuminate nerved. Stem prickly 
13951 Leaves alternate cordate 3-lobed : middle lobe acuminate. Stem compressed round naked 
13952 Leaves alternate cordate oblong acuminate coriaceous 7-nerved, Stem round smooth 
13953 Leaves opposite cordate roundish ovate acute 7-nerved, Stem round smooth 
13954 Leaves alternate cordate lane, narrow 3-nerved longer than petiole, Stem smooth 
13955 Leaves opposite and whorled cordate acuminate 9-nerved downy beneath. Stem round 
13956 Leaves opposite ovate acuminate 7-nerved, Stem round smooth 
and Miscellaneous Particular's. 
born in 1628, died in 1705, and author of many works of the highest reputation. His zoological arrangement 
is still regarded with much respect. Twining plants resembling the Yam. 
2085. Dioscorea. In memory of Pedacius Dioscorides, a Greek physician, born at Anazarba, in Cilicia. He 
is generally believed to have lived under Nero, but this is very uncertain. Abulfarrage makes him to have 
flourished under Ptolemeeus Physcon ; but he is not generally credited. D. sativa, Iguanie, Fr., and Inhume, 
Portug., has large thick tubers, a foot broad, and palmated like some Orchises. The stalks are slender, 
and with the leaves bear some resemblance to black bryony. The yam is largely cultivated for food in 
Africa and the East and West Indies, especially in the latter for the negroes. The roots grow to a great 
size, are mealy, and esteemed to be easy of digestion ; they are palatable, and not inferior to any roots now irj 
use, either for delicacy of flavor or nutriment. They are eaten instead of bread, either roasted on the embers 
or boiled ; the flower is also made into bread and puddings. In Otaiieite they make a dish, which they esteem 
very delicious, from the roots of the yam, with the kernel of the cocoa-nut scraped, and the pulp of the Musa 
or Banana. The juice of yam-roots fresh is acrid, and excites an itching on the skin. There are many varie- 
ties of these roots, some spreading out like the fingers {Rurnph. t. 121.) ; others twisted like a serpent {Humph. 
t. 122.) ; others again very small, scarcely weighing more than a pound, with a whitish ash-colored bark, whereas 
the bark is commonly black. The flesh of the yam is white or purplish, and viscid, but becomes farinaceous 
or mealy when dressed. 
D. acvileata, by some considered only an improved variety of the sativa, is universally cultivated in the 
East and West Indies, in Africa, and in all the islands of the southern ocean within the torrid zone, and even 
as far as New Zealand. The tubers are frequently three feet long, and weigh thirty pounds. All the edible 
species and varieties are propagated in foreign countries like the common potatoe, but they arrive much 
sooner at maturity. The buds of the roots are not apparent, but still a small piece of skin is left to each set ; 
for from this piece of bark alone the shoots proceed. Holes are made in rows two feet apart, and at eighteen 
inches distant in the row ; into those holes two or three sets are put, first covered with earth, and then with 
a little haulm or rubbish to retain moisture. The only after-culture consists in hoeing up the weeds. They 
are commonly planted hi August, and are ripe about the November or December following. When dug up, 
the greatest care is taken not to wound them, as that occasions them to sprout much earlier than they other- 
wise would do. They should be rubbed over with ashes, and piled regularly on beds or hurdles raised above 
the floor, that the air may come easily between them; or, if they be piled in heaps, some ashes should be 
strewed between the layers. None of the species are worth cultivating as ornamental plants ; but some of the 
edible sorts have been raised in hotbeds in the Paris garden, and being transplanted early into a warm situation, 
have produced tubers of a considerable size. 
3 H 4 
