SUCCULENT ROOTS AND THEIR USE AS FOOD. 7 
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense), or the snakeroot of our northern 
woods, may also be mentioned. The spicy, aromatic root of this 
plant was gathered quite commonly in earlier times and dried, being 
used like many other wild plants in domestic medicine. Its use as a 
condiment was also common, a bit of the dried root being carried 
about and nibbled at odd times in the same way as calamus and dried 
orris root. In pioneer cookery it occasionally took the place of some 
more common spice, and does now, the fresh root being used to some 
extent like true ginger in pickle making. It also can be candied. 
Laboratory tests have shown that both flagroot and wild ginger 
root used in cookery in small quantities in place of other spices give 
a distinctive flavor which many would consider pleasant. 
Another native American root—sassafras—which has some impor- 
tance for condimental purposes, may be mentioned here. The bark 
of the root yields a flavoring extract more used in confectionery 
making than in the home. However, it is interesting to know that 
tea made from this root, which was once so common a beverage 
under the name of “saloop,” is still used to some extent in parts of 
the United States, both in the home and commercially. 
SUMMARY. 
The plants which store their reserve material in underground 
roots, tubers, and bulbs have, in many instances, come to be regarded 
by man as among the most important foodstuffs. Cultivation has 
to a great extent modified the size, structure, flavor, and appear- 
ance of the parts which are eaten, and the garden varieties are as 
a rule superior to the wild in these respects and show important 
modifications in the season of growth and in other ways. As a 
class the edible roots, tubers, and bulbs may be divided into the 
following groups: (1) Starch-yielding vegetables, as potatoes, sweet 
potatoes, dasheens, etc.; (2) succulent roots, as beets, carrots, and 
parsnips; and (38) condimental or flavoring roots, as horse-radish 
and ginger. 
The edible roots, tubers, and bulbs have a high water content 
and are valued as additions to the diet for their appetizing, succu- 
lent qualities and the bulk which they give, as well as for the nutri- 
tive material which they supply. Starch is the material most com- 
monly stored in the underground receptacles, though it is replaced 
in some plants by closely related bodies such as inulin, mannin, etc., 
by sugars of different sorts, pectoses, or other carbohydrates. The 
proportion of nitrogenous material in such foodstuffs is small, and 
true albumin seldom constitutes more than a third of the total pro- 
tein. The proportion of fat is also small, being composed in some 
cases very largely of wax-like bodies found in the skin, or of color- 
ing matter; and in other cases, of volatile oils and similar sub- 
