504 
Notes  on  the  Dasheen  and  Chayote.  {ArrX^°v 
of  a  mature  specimen  is  mealy,  though  firmer  than  the  potato, 
because  of  its  comparatively  lower  water  content.  Its  flesh  varies 
in  color  from  cream  to  more  frequently  grayish  white  or  tinged  with 
violet. 
Dasheens  are  best  eaten  directly  after  they  have  been  baked  or 
boiled.   If  kept  standing  they  gradually  lose  in  palatability. 
An  excellent  flour  has  been  made  from  dasheens.  The  corms 
and  larger  cormels  are  pared  and  either  sliced  or  shredded  and  then 
dried  and  ground  in  a  mill.  This  flour  is  mixed  with  that  of  wheat 
or  rye  in  the  proportion  of  one  part  of  the  former  to  three  or  four 
parts  of  the  latter. 
The  shoots  are  commonly  blanched  by  forcing  them  from  larger 
corms  in  the  dark  and  are  said  to  be  more  tender  than  those  of 
asparagus. 
This  vegetable,  concerning  which  little  has  been  recorded,  is  the 
fruit  of  Chayote  edulis  Jacq.  (Family  Cucurhitaceae),  a  native  of 
Fig.  6.  Fruits  of  the  Chayote,  Chayota  edulis  Jacq.  Note  the  embryo 
protruding  from  the  distal  end  of  each  of  the  fruits  in  center  and  the  left  of 
the  figure.    X  Vs- 
tropical  American.  The  plant  is  a  climbing,  sparsely  hairy  vine,  with 
perennial  tuberous  roots.  Its  stem  bears  alternate,  cordate,  palmately 
3-lobed  or  angled  leaves,  which  are  membranous  in  texture.  From 
points  along  the  stem  opposite  the  leaves  2-5-branched  tendrils  arise 
■which  assist  the  vine  in  climbing.  The  flowers  are  monoecious  and 
axillary ;  the  pistillate  are  solitary,  while  the  staminate  are  borne  in 
small  clusters.  The  calyx  tube  is  crateriform  with  a  5-lobed  limb. 
The  greenish  to  cream-colored  corolla  is  rotate,  deeply  5-parted,  the 
segments  being  ovate-lanceolate.  The  filaments  and  styles  are  con- 
nate into  a  central  column  of  which  2-celled  anthers  appear  as  lobes. 
The  Chayote. 
