Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
is a plant in South Europe and north Africa; introduced in America and now runs wild on the banks of the Delaware and other rivers from pennsylvania to Carolina. The roots are vry sweet and are eaten by children. the chufa was distributed from the United States Patent Office in 1854 and has received a spasmodic culture in gardens. it is much cultivated in southern Europe, Asia and Africa, becoming of importance at Valence, in Galicia, and in the environs of Rosetta and Damietta, Egypt. In Hungary, it is grown for the seeds, to be used as a coffee substitute, but in general for its tubers which are sweet, nutty and palatable. These bulbs, says Bryant, are greatly esteemed in Italy and some parts of Germany and are frequently brought to table by way of dessert. At Constantinople, the tubers appear in the markets and are eaten raw or made into a conserve. Gerarde, 1633, speaks of their extensive use in Italy, and of their being hawked about the streets and, at Verona, eaten as dainties. They now appear in the English markets under the name of Zulu nuts. the chufa must also have been esteemed in ancienbt times, for tubers have been found in Egyptian tombs of the twelfth dynasty, or from 2200 to 2400 years before Christ. Notwithstanding the long continued culture of this plant, there are no varieties described.
