Scorzone'ra

Scorzone'ra (Ital. scorza, 'bark; ' nera, 'black'); a genus of plants of the natural order Composite, sub-order Cichoraceæ, having yellow or rarely rose-coloured flowers. The species are numerous, mostly natives of the south of Europe and the East. No species is found in Britain. The Common Scorzonera of kitchen-gardens, S. hispanica, a native of the south of Europe, has long been cultivated for its esculent roots. The root is black externally, white within, about the thickness of a man's finger, long, and tapering very gradually, whence the name Viper's Grass, sometimes given to the plant, the root being supposed to resemble a viper. It contains a white milky juice, and has a mild, sweetish mucilaginous taste; it is very pleasant when boiled, the outer rind being first scraped off, and the root steeped in water, to abstract part of its bitterness. The leaves are an inferior substitute for mulberry-leaves in feeding silkworms.—Other species of Scorzonera are used in the same way. The roots of S. deliciosa, a native of Parma, are preserved with sugar; those of S. tuberosa are a favourite food of the Kalmucks.