CULTIVATED PLANTS. 125

 

 

vertical and horizontal distribution. Its northern
limit, in Norway, is 64° N. lat.

Maize, or Indian Corn, a native of America, is
extensively cultivated from the southern part of
Chili to high latitudes in North America. Its
northern European limit is perhaps near the iso-
therm of 65° Fahr.

Buckwheat, probably a native of the colder
portions of the Chinese Empire, is extensively
cultivated in Siberia, on the plateaus of Central
Asia, and generally in the cool temperate regions

of the rest of the world. Buckwheat is especially _

valuable on account of the ability it possesses of
thriving in sandy or moory soils, where other
similar food-plants will not succeed.

Potatoes.—The native country of the potato
appears to have been either Chili or Peru.
Though cultivated in both the tropical and tem-
perate regions, it is to be regarded as a food-
plant of the temperate zones. It possesses a very
remarkable range, being cultivated from the ex-
tremity of Africa to Lapland: the requisite cold
in the tropical regions being found on mountain-
slopes.

332. The Food-Plants of the Tropical Regions,
are rice, dates, cocoa-nuts, bananas and plantains,
cassava, bread-fruit, sago, yams, ete.

Rice is cultivated in tropical Africa, Egypt,
Nubia, Persia, China, the Americas, and the West
Indies. It requires considerable heat and an
abundance of moisture. Rice forms the main
food of a large portion of the world.

Dates form an important article of food in
North Africa, both for man and beast. Dates
are obtained from the date-palm, a native of a
strip of land on the southern slopes of the Atlas
Mountains, where the tree occurs so plentifully as
to give to the country the name of Beled-el-Jerid,
or the Land of Dates. Different varieties of the
date are found in the Saharan oases, and in other
parts of the world.

Cocoa-nuts are the product of the cocoa-palm,
which is valuable for its food, timber, foliage, and
fibres. The cocoa-palm is a native of Southern
Asia, but is cultivated throughout the: tropical
regions of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and the islands
of Polynesia. .

Bananas and Plantains are thought to be na-
tives of Southern Asia. They are extensively
cultivated throughout the tropical zones, both
north and south of the equator. Since their
fruit is very nutritious, and the-yield of a given

15

 

 

area great, they form an exceedingly important
staple of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Fig, 110, Banana.

Cassava is obtained from the manioc, a shrub
with a fleshy root, several feet long, and nearly
as thick as a man’s arm. Tapioca is one of the
varieties of cassava. Some species of the man-
ioc are poisonous, when raw, but become edible
when cooked. The manioc is a native of Brazil,
but is abundantly cultivated in Western Africa,
in Congo and in Guinea.

 

is : Fig. 111, Bread-Fruit,

Bread-Fruit is the pulpy fruit of a tree which
grows only in the tropics. The fruit, when baked,
resembles potato bread in taste. The tree yields