«4 
BOTANICAL, INDEX 
* * * * Herbarium, * * * * July 5, 1878. 
L. B. Case. — My D-ur Sir: You will remember sc;inl i n«^ us last spring a tuber, 
which proved to be that of a Sagittaria. Now, this question in regard to S. variabiiis 
bearing tubers, has become a puzzling one. it is not referred to in the books, nor 
do herbarium specimens show any evidence of the existence of anything like tubers. 
Yet it is reported from Oregon that the Indians dig them for food, and it is said to 
grow in San Joaquin Valley, California, and to be used there for food by the 
Chinese. Moreover, I)r. Engelmann says that lie has for several years known that 
they did bear tubers, though he says nothing of it in Gray’s Manual. Seeing a fine 
growth of the plant in our pond, I have to-day set a man to digging for the roots, 
but not a sign of a tuber do I find. The plants which you sent are the only visible 
evidences we have that they are ever formed. This by way of prelude. Now will 
you, as you have opportunity, be so kind as to investigate the species growing in 
your locality, gather specimens in flower and in fruit, and especially go to the root 
of the matter, and see when and where these tubers are found. If you will do this 
and report at your convenience, you will probably help our botany, and will oblige, 
Yours very truly, S. 
St. Louis, Mo., June 21, 187D- 
L. B. Case. — Dear Sir: Your Sagittaria specimens, with effete tubers, are quite 
interesting. The fact tiiat Sagittaria not only bears tubers, but possess the virtue 
only by the aid of these tubers just as the potato does and the Nelumbium, is well 
known. Many other plants, such as many ground orchids, do the same. They form 
in the fall as a receptacle of nourishment, and decay as soon as they are exhausted 
in spring or summer. Nympluei is not so, but Nelumbium is eminently so, peren- 
nial only by the aid of such tubers. 
Sagittaria Sinensis is even cultivated for such tubers, not only in China but also in 
California. I have long since tried to obtain the tubers to cultivate and study this 
species, but succeeded to get the tubers only last winter, and they were dead. They 
were about the same size as yours. Perhaps you, with your connections, can obtain 
t hem better — late, in fall, would he the best time, 1 think. 
I)r. Clapp, in his catalogue of Medical Plants of the United States, Philadel- 
phia, 1852, p. 195, says of 8. variabiiis: Root is said to be acrid. Cooking destroys 
the acrid qualities of the roots, which have been used as food by the Indians and 
some of the inhabitants of Northern Europe. 
Darlington, in his Flora Cestr., second edition, 1853, p. 305, says: Tubers 1 to 2 
inches in diameter. Hogs are fond of the tubers and root them. Ivelin, in his trav- 
els, (last century,) says they are sometimes as big as a man’s fist. In first edition, 
1826, he also speaks of the tubers, some of them the size of a goose egg; mild to the 
taste, and, 1 have no doubt, nutritious. 
Why Clapp calls them acrid, I do not know. Here you have American authori- 
ties as far back as 1826! 
Your tubers are of 8. variabiiis, Eng. The separate specimen is 8. graminea, 
Miehx., which used to be often, commonly called 8. simplex, Pursh. 1 have distin- 
guished 8. variabiiis, our American plant, from 8. sagittifolia, of Europe, as early as 
1S40 or ’41, but I. think it was published first in Gray’s Manual, second edition. 
Sagittaria calycina, I discovered here about 1853, but it was published only in 
Torrey’s Botany of the Mexican Boundary, 1859. This hears no tubers , but seems to be 
annual! Yours truly, G. ENGELMANN. 
[The above letters, although not intended for publication, illustrate many points 
in our article so faithfully that we have violated the rules of privacy and confidence, 
but hope this explanation will prove satisfactory for so doing. The first letter, from 
• Prof. 8., illustrates the general belief in regard to the American form of Sagittaria 
among all botanists (himself one of the first botanists in the country) and collectors, 
while Dr. Engelmanu’s letter is, as usual with all his letters, replete with informa- 
tion.] 
Perhaps nothing is so annoying to a business man as a delay or uncertainty in 
the carriage of his letters, which is oftentimes not only an annoyance hut a serious 
loss; and this often arises in not being particular to spell out in full the address of 
the city or town and state to which the letter is sent. We have within the United 
States a city or town named Richmond in nearly every State, and the abbreviation of 
the name Indiana often sends our mail to Virginia or Iowa, from which places it is 
a long time in reaching us, and sometimes never does. We hope our correspondents 
will in the future be particular to give the full address: — 
Richmond , Wayne County, Indiana. 
