Common Names: Cassava, Yucca

A bushy herb or shrub from Brazil, with long tuberous edible roots. There are two varieties, the sweet one, whose roots may be eaten raw, and the bitter one, whose roots contain much prussic acid which is destroyed by cooking. The flavor of both is good when cooked. The Latins cook it with olive oil and garlic. The roots are used as potatoes and as a flour-like thickener. The tapioca used in pudding is the starch of this plant root.