They take two days to roast and many of them are bitter, and on top of this it is with great labor that they are dug out (Krieger 2002:194).Īs Cabeza de Vaca observed, these unnamed roots required a long period of cooking, and even then they tasted bitter and were hard on the stomach. Their food supply is principally roots of two or three kinds and they look for them through all the country these are very and swell the men that eat them. The Mariames relied on roots for much of their diet, according to Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to trek across Texas and Northern Mexico, in the early 16th century. The most often mentioned, and perhaps the most detailed account is from Cabeza de Vaca's Relación. However, reviewing their observations helps to eliminate some roots and home in on others. Although Spanish observers mention root foods, they seldom identify them. They require lots of processing to neutralize these chemicals. The problem that roots pose for potential foragers is that they usually contain biochemicals that discourage comsumption, such as alkaloids or saponins. From a hunter-gatherer's viewpoint, these plants are miniature energy packets for any predator that happens along. These organs function to store food reserves, nutrients, and moisture for seasonal growth and development enhancing a plant's ability to overwinter or survive long periods of drought. The cattail (or tule) stores food in a rhizome, which is an underground shoot or stem.Ī more appropriate and inclusive word is 'geophyte', which refers to any plant that stores food in an underground organ, be it a bulb, tuber, rhizome, or corm. The potato is a tuber, which is a root that is modified for food storage. The leaves are modified to contain food, and the bulb just happens to grow underground. For example, onions are often referred to as root foods, but in fact an onion bulb consists of thick, fleshy leaves arranged in a rosette around a short stem. Common usage for the word root actually refers to several different parts of a plant. We first need to explain what we mean by 'root foods'. There are, however, several candidates which we will discuss.

The enduring mystery remains, 'What kinds of roots were they?' In fact, we simply don't know.

Historical records indicate that several root foods sustained the native groups of the South Texas Plains, particularly during the winter.

Roots and Branches by J. Suthern Hicks