THE AEGTIC 
157 
The tender inner portions of the main stalk and the leaf stalks 
have a somewhat sweetish taste and may be eaten raw after 
stripping off the outer covering. It grows in protected spots 
where the soil is rich, especially around old village sites, and 
is well known as a food plant in the sub-Arctic sections of Green- 
land, Kamchatka, and Europe. 
Kelp and other seaweeds are also eaten by the Eskimos, either 
raw or boiled. 
ROOTS 
Four kinds of edible roots are shown in figures 58 to 61. Lico- 
rice root (Fig. 58) grows from 1 to 2 feet high and has stalks 
of pink flowers that develop into seed pods. It has a flexible 
root, about as thick as a man’s finger. When cooked it tastes 
like carrots. 
The woolly lousewort (Fig. 59) is 5 to 8 inches high with 
several stems of rose colored flowers, and has a yellow tap root 
which tastes like carrots. It is found mostly in dry tundra 
country. 
Snakeroot (Fig. 60) from 5 to 10 inches high with large oblong 
leaves, spikes of white or pink flowers and an edible root about I 
the size of a pecan, grows on dry tundra. 
There is a small plant belonging to the lily family (Fig. 61) 
that is common on the Aleutian Islands and along the Alaskan 
coast to Bering Strait and the opposite shores of Asia, but is 
not found in the high Arctic.- It has greenish purple flowers, 
long pointed leaves and an edible root like a small onion. The 
roots taste bitter when raw but can be boiled into a starch paste 
and eaten. Eskimos and Aleuts are fond of the bulbs, often 
boiling them with their meat. 
570603°— 44 -11 
