Am.  Jour.  Phariia."! 
Aug.,  1891.  J 
The  Manihots. 
393 
is  then  watery  and  has  an  insipid  taste.  These  fleshy  roots,  when 
boiled  or  baked,  become  mealy  like  potatoes,  and  frequently  take 
their  place. 
Mandioca  branca  (white)  is  similar  to  the  above,  but  the  bark  is 
not  as  easily  removed  ;  it  is  extensively  cultivated  and  greatly 
esteemed  by  the  negroes. 
There  are  about  1 5  more  well  known  varieties  resembling  the 
preceding,  like  Maniva  manterga  (butter);  snissa  (Swiss);  amarella 
(yellow)  and  others. 
"  Manihot  utUissima "  is  commonly  called  bitter  mandioca;  all 
its  varieties  have  more  or  less  red  brown,  blackish  stems  and 
branches;  the  leaves  are  five  lobed,  dark  green  and  sometimes  red- 
brown  on  lower  surface  ;  the  seeds  are  small  and  resemble  those 
of  Ricinus.  The  plant  is  3  to  5  meters  high  ;  stem  and  branches 
are  woody  ;  the  fleshy  root  is  about  one  meter  long,  36  cm.  thick, 
and  has  a  brown  bark.  The  whole  plant,  including  the  roots,  con- 
tains a  great  deal  of  milk  juice,  which  is  of  thick  consistency,  and 
reddens  blue  litmus.  All  bitter  mandiocas  are  poisonous,  due  to 
the  presence  of  hydrocyanic  acid,  or  a  substance  which  is  easily 
converted  into  it;  a  very  small  quantity  is  sufficient  to  extinguish 
life.  After  being  exposed  to  the  air  for  thirty-six  hours,  the  juice 
loses  its  deleterious  properties,  and  the  same  thing  happens  when 
it  is  boiled,  or  submitted  to  distillation. 
Some  botanists  regard  Manihot  utilissima  as  the  mother  plant, 
and  all  other  cultivated  mandiocas  as  derivatives  of  the  same. 
Mandioca  assu  (giant)  -is  about  4  meters  in  height ;  stems 
about  7  cm.  thick,  red-brown  ;  branches  dark  green ;  leaves  gener- 
ally 5  or  7  lobed.  The  root  of  this  variety  is  about  3  meters  long 
and  1 5  centimeters  in  diameter ;  some  enormous  specimens  have 
been  obtained,  one  was  said  to  weigh  150  kilos,  but  the  average 
weight  is  29  to  30  kilos  (or  over  60  pounds) ;  if  allowed  to  grow  to 
this  size  it  becomes  tough  and  woody.  This  mandioca  is  generally 
fed  to  cattle. 
Many  other  varieties  are  of  more  or  less  importance ;  among 
these  may  be  mentioned  Maniva  manipeba,  which  is  tall  and  differs 
by  being  bulbous,  scattering  its  bulbs  in  different  directions,  and 
in  this  way  making  itself  very  firm  in  the  soil ;  there  are  2  varieties, 
both  being  extremely  poisonous ;  animals  will  not  even  touch  one 
of  these,  and  the  second  gives  a  flour  which  ants  also  reject. 
