Indian cuke, Babcock

I got into hard-core botany through a classic book with the wonderful title of Stalking the Wild Asparagus. The author, an equally classic character named Euell Gibbons, was a master forager whose passion was getting people out into the natural world and returning them home well-fed, or, at least, with a full rucksack of edible delights. Of course, one of the key skills that had to be mastered to avoid getting poisoned was plant identification, and over time, I came to, well, relish learning how to key out all plant species, not just the ones bound for the dinner table. Forty years later, I'm still at it. This Indian Cucumber, withered and about to call it a season, was one of my first triumphs, and I was beyond excitement when I dug into the ground, pulled out a white tuber almost the size of my thumb, and bit into it. Delicious, I declared, all smiles in the knowledge that if I were lost in the right kind of woods, Medeola virginiana would help feed me. Thankfully, I never had to raid the Indian cuke patch, and these days, I look at the pretty member of the Lily family and leave it alone. The species is fairly uncommon, and, in truth, cukes are pretty cheap.