40 
BOTAXICAA INDEX. 
violet purple, without spots, but 
thickly set upon its inner sur- 
face, with fine cilia or hair-like 
fringe nearly an inch long and 
of a grayish color, often giving 
to the flower a changeable ap- 
pearance. Unlike the creeping 
varieties, the flowers of this sec- 
tion have very little or none of 
the fetid odor, and are therefore 
more desirable for house cult- 
ure. The plant of S. asterias is 
said to be the finest of all the 
species, by English botanists. 
This section has erect, straight, 
square, branching stems, grow- 
ing eight or nine inches high, 
of a light green color, and cov- 
ered with a grayish down or 
bloom, with notches and tuber- 
cles as in the creeping section, 
while the flower stems usually 
spring from these tubercles. 
Sir Joseph Paxton tells us: 
‘ The soil best suited for them is 
sandy loam and old brick or lime rubbish. The pots should be well drained, and the 
plants at all times carefully watered, except in winter, when they must be kept in a 
perfectly dry state. They are readily increased by cuttings, which should if possible 
be taken off only in spring, when the plants are dormant. They should be allowed 
to dry for a few days after they are taken from the mother plant, after which they 
may be planted in separate pots in the same compost as before recommended, when 
they will strike root in a very short time .” — Botanical Dictionary, p. 35. 
The peculiar grotesque appearance of the plant, especially when in flower, will 
recommend it to all lovers of curious plants; and by following the above directions, 
they will be found to be of the easiest possible culture. 
Fig. 29. — Flou'er of Stapelia Asterias, natural size. 
Ancient Use of the Roots of the Uily as an Article of Food. 
Very few people realize the rapidity with which the old land-marks of the formei 
occupants of America are disappearing, and a still smaller number ever stop to learn 
what is still knowable of many an interesting spot, which, if carefully studied, would 
add pages of information to the history of pre-historic America, but which in a short 
time will be entirely obliterated and contribute nothing to our knowledge of those 
mysterious people of which we are all so anxious to learn. One of these interesting 
localities is the banks of the Kankakee river, especially in Starke, Porter and La Porte 
counties, Indiana; and the objects of special interest here are basins, or, as they are 
usually called, “pot holes,” dug out of the ground only a few feet from the river 
bank, and usually in the black muck ground, where the banks are from two to six 
feet above the river bed in low water, but are often overflowed during spring and 
fall, so they do not indicate the site of a permanent location. These basins are about 
eight feet in diameter and three feet deep, the bottom being covered with a layer of 
broken granite, sandstone and limestone; however, there are no stone in place for 
quarrying within a long distance, and the prairies are low and swampy, with only 
a very few scattered boulders, or “nigger heads,” as they are popularly called, to 
be found, which would probably indicate the stone were brought by the people on 
their periodical trips, from a distance. There are usually from ten to fifteen basins 
in a group together, with only space enough between to allow of a narrow path 
around eacli one ; but sometimes no more than three or four are found together, while 
as high as thirty are found in rare locations. 
From an old settler, Mr. John Lindsley, who died in 1873, we learn something 
positive of the origin and uses of these basins. He said they were dug out by the 
Indians, and used as a place for preparing the roots of the Water Lily for food. He 
described the mode of preparing it, as has often been done before by travelers among 
primitive people, which to American archaeologists is a very interesting point as con- 
