ains of
Piedmont, and probably nowhere else.

TUBER MELANOSPORUM. _Thomp._

This is the Truffle of the Paris markets. It is richly scented, and also
greatly superior in flavor to the common sorts.

Other genera and species of Fungi are considered harmless, and are
occasionally used for food. Some of the edible kinds, however, in size,
form, color, and organization, so closely approach certain poisonous or
deleterious species, as to confuse even the most experienced student.
None of the family (not excepting even the common cultivated Mushroom)
should therefore be gathered for use, except by those who may possess a
thorough knowledge of the various species and their properties.

CHAPTER XII.

MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLES.

Alkekengi, or Ground Cherry. Corn. Egg-plant. Martynia. Oil Radish.
Okra, or Gumbo. Pepper. Rhubarb, or Pie-plant. Sunflower. Tobacco.
Tomato.

* * * * *

ALKEKENGI.

Strawberry Tomato. Winter Cherry. Ground Cherry. Barbadoes Gooseberry.
Physalis edulis.

A hardy annual plant from Central or Tropical America. Stem angular,
very much branched, but not erect,--in good soils, attaining a length or
height of more than three feet; leaves large, triangular; flowers
solitary, yellow, spotted or marked with purple, and about half an inch
in diameter; fruit rounded or obtuse-heart-shaped, half an inch in
diameter, yellow, and semi-transparent at maturity, enclosed in a
peculiar thin, membranous, inflated, angular calyx, or covering, which
is of a pale-green color while the fruit is forming, but at maturity
changes to a dusky-white or reddish-drab. The pedicel, or fruit-stem, is
weak and slender; and most of the berries fall spontaneously to the
ground at the time of ripening.

The seeds are small, yellow, lens-shaped, and retain their germinative
properties three years.

The plants are exceedingly prolific, and will thrive in almost any
description of soil. Sow at the same time, and thin or transplant to the
same distance, as practised in the cultivation of the Tomato. On land
where it has been grown, it springs up spontaneously in great abundance,
and often becomes troublesome in the garden.

_Use._--The fruit has a juicy pulp, and, when first tasted, a pleasant,
strawberry-like flavor, with a certain degree of sweetness and acidity
intermixed. The after-taste is, however, much less agreeable, and is
similar to that of the Common Tomato.

By many the fruit