Arracacha esculenta, of Bancroft and Decandolle (Conium Arracacha).—­This perennial herb is a native of South America, which, from its salubrious qualities, is extensively cultivated in the mountains of Venezuela and other parts of tropical and Southern America, for culinary purposes.  It is propagated by planting pieces of the tuberous root, in each of which is an eye or shoot.  The late Baron de Shack introduced it into Trinidad, from Caraccas, and it has thence been carried to the island of Grenada.  It throve there remarkably well, but has been unaccountably neglected.  He also sent roots of this valuable plant to London, Liverpool, and Glasgow.  Although it bears cold better than the potato, it requires a warmer and more equal temperature than most of the countries of Europe afford.  It would, however, make an excellent addition to the culinary vegetables of many tropical countries, uniting the taste of the potato and parsnip, but being superior to both.

The arracacha has been introduced into the South of Europe, not as a substitute for, but as a provision against a failure of the potato crop.  It is highly recommended by the Rev. J.M.  Wilson, in the “Rural Encyclopaedia.”

Stevenson ("Travels in South America,” vol. ii., p. 383) says the yucas (cassava), camotes (sweet potatoes), and yams cultivated at Esmeraldas and that neighbourhood, were the finest he ever saw.  “It is not uncommon for one of these roots to weigh upwards of twenty pounds.  At one place I saw a few plants of the yuca that had stood upwards of twenty years, the owner having frequently bared the bottom of the plants and taken the ripe roots, after which, throwing up the earth again, and allowing a sufficient time for new roots to grow, a continual succession of this excellent nutritious food was procured.”

The Aipi grows in Brazil, and according to T. Ashe, may be eaten raw, and, when pressed, yields a pleasant juice for drink; or being inspissated by the heat of the sun, is kept either to be boiled and eaten, or dissolved and drank.  The tapinambar grows in Chili, and is used by the Indians.

The tapioca, or bay rash, a plant which grows about the out-islands of the Bahamas group, was found of great use as a food plant to the inhabitants of Long Island, during a scarcity of food occasioned by the drought in 1843.  This root grows in the form of a large beet, and is from twelve to sixteen inches in length.  It is entirely farinaceous, and, when properly ground and prepared, makes good bread.  It fetches there four to six cents a pound.

The root of the kooyah plant (Valeriana edulis) is much used by some of the North American Indians as food.  The root is of a very bright yellow color, with a peculiar taste and odor, and hence is called “tobacco root.”  It is deprived of its strong poisonous qualities by being baked in the ground for about two days.  A variety of other roots and tubers furnish them with food.  Among these are kamas root (Camassia esculenta), which is highly esteemed; the bulb has a sweet pleasant flavor, somewhat of the taste of preserved quince.  It is a strikingly handsome bulbous plant, with large beautiful purple flowers.  Yampah root (Anethum graveolens) is a common article of food with the Indians of the Rocky Mountains.