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 of South Africa. The interior of the trunk and the center of the ripe female cones contain a spongy, farinaceous pith, made use of by the Kaffirs as food. On the female cone, seeds as large as unshelled jordan almonds are contained between the scales, and are surrounded with a reddish pulp, which is good to eat. Barrow says it is used by the Kaffirs as food. The stem, when stripped of its leaves, resembles a large pineapple. The Kaffirs bury it for some months in the ground, then pound it, and extract a quantity of farinaceous matter of the nature of sago. This sago is a favorite food with the natives and is not unacceptable to the Dutch settlers when better food cannot be had.
