TAROS AND YAUTIAS uy 
yellow tanyah. The small lateral tubers that do not send up leaf 
shoots are said to be those most prized for food in Madeira. Being 
at most only slightly acrid they do not require so long cooking as 
the corms and larger tubers. As in the case of the yellow tanyah, 
however, these small 
tubers are few and are 
not rich flavored. 
YAUTIAS. 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 
The yautias, as pre- 
viously stated, belong 
to the genus Xantho- 
soma and comprise a 
number of _ species. 
Most of the species have 
large spreading leaves 
with more or less ar- 
row-shaped blades (PI. 
X, fig. 1).. Phe Timp 
of the spathe of the in- 
florescence varies in 
length, color, and in 
the degree to which it 
opens; the upper end of 
the spadix (PI. III, fig. 
2) always bears stami- 
nate flowers to its tip. 
Many of the edible va- 
rieties seldom or never 
flower, a trait which 
makes determination of 
the species difficult. No 
attempt is made in this 
bulletin to use specific 
names for the varieties 
of yautias except where 
their correctness seems 
to be beyond reasonable 
doubt. The name “yau- 
tia” is said to be an 
Arawak word,’? in use 
in the Greater Antilles 
at the time of the ar- 
Fic. 11.—A 7-ounce tuber (natural size) of a white- creat X . 
fleshed yautia of excellent quality, similar to the IV al of the Spaniards. 
Rolliza variety; grown in southern Florida. Most of the better 
(P28193FS. ) eae 
yielding yautias have 
inedible acrid corms which bear edible lateral tubers. In many 
' varieties the uncooked tubers are also more or less acrid, but in a 
_ few they are nonacrid. These tubers as grown in the Southern 
States usually range from 12 ounces downward in weight (fig. 11) ; 
a Barrett, O. W., Promising root crops for the South, previously mentioned, p. 10. 
eae $4453 °—24——2 
