Page:An introduction to physiological and systematical botany (1st edition).djvu/138

 108 "The great part of the root seemeth to be bitten away: old fantasticke charmers report, that the divel did bite it for envie, because it is an herbe that hath so many good vertues, and is so beneficial to mankinde."———The malice of the devil has unhappily been so successful that no virtues can now be found in the remainder of the root or herb.

5. Radix tuberosa. A Tuberous or Knobbed Root, is of many different kinds. The most genuine consists of fleshy knobs, various in form, connected by common stalks or fibres, as in the Potatoe, Solanum tuberosum, and Jerusalem Artichoke, ''Helianthus tuberosus Jacq. Hort. Vind. t.'' 161. These knobs are reservoirs of nourishment, moisture, and vital energy. Several of the Vetch or Pea kind are furnished with them on a smaller scale; see ''Vicia lathyroides, Engl. Bot. t.'' 30, and several