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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 11.2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Plants of the Southeast
“Horseradish,” Armoracia rusticana
Photo/John Nelson
Enjoying the freshly sliced or grated root of horseradish
is something of an acquired taste.
By John Nelson
University of South Car
olina
Question: Why would a
mathematician want to grow
cubical carrots?
Answer: To get square roots.
—a Dad joke
Remember your botany
class? If you were paying at
tention, you would have re
membered from the root
lecture how important they
are as plant organs, usually
underground, for anchoring
the plant, and for absorbing
water and nutrients. And, of
course, roots come in various
shapes, often fibrous, or
some enlarged and modified
as well for storing water and
carbohydrates.
A massive sort of such a
storage root, oriented more or
less vertically, is called a
‘‘taproot”, and you probably
have some carrots or radishes
or turnips in your refrigerator
to serve as well-known ex
amples of taproots. We have
a taproot to discuss for this
week’s plant.
“Horseradish," Armora
cia rusticana is a species in
the mustard family, and na
tive to eastern Europe, we
think. It has been growing in
gardens since antiquity for its
perceived medicinal proper
ties, and as well for its very
real and distinctive, strong
flavor.
Being a member of the
mustard family, horseradish
produces flowers with four
petals (white in this case),
and a smallish seed pod with
several seeds. This family is
also known for its biochem
istry, particularly in its pro
duction of mustard oil. When
the tissues of such a plant are
damaged, as by an insect
predator, mustard oil is
quickly produced as a way of
deterring further herbivory.
This chemistry is what
gives most plants in the mus
tard family a sort of peppery,
sharp flavor. The entire plant
would be able to produce
such a flavor, and with horse
radish, it is the taproots
which are especially good for
this, and they really can pack
quite a punch.
But like I said, the mus
tard oil flavor is produced
only after the tissues are
wounded in some way. This
is why, long ago, people real
ized that the grated roots ren
dered a tndy memorable,
Clues Across
1. Ancient kingdom near Dead
Sea
5. 2014 Winter Olympics host
10. Soft fabric
12. Covered in flowers
14. Works at a college or univer
sity
16. Keeps us cool
18. Corpuscle count (abbr.)
19. Similar
20. Birthplace of Muhammad
22. They __
23. Preamble to a book
25. Southern China people
26. Hair product
27. The woman
28. Partner to cheese
30. One point north of due east
31. Round Dutch cheese
33. Be in awe of
35. Christmas song
37. Emits coherent radiation
38. Something that is comparable
to another
40. Monetary unit
41. The cutting part of a drill
42. Resinlike substance secreted
by certain insects
44. Touch lightly
45. Toyota SUV
48. _ and Andy, TV show
50. Made less dangerous
52. Assets under management
(abbr.)
53. Nostrils
55. Moved quickly
56. Thai isthmus
57. TV personality Roker
58. Honors anew
63. Rags
65. One who obtains pleasure
from inflicting pain or others
66. Marketplaces
67. Dark brown or black
Clues Down
1. Nowhere to be found (abbr.)
2. Not new
3. Brew
4. Stain with mud
5. Chief or leader
6. Luke Skywalker's mentor
Wan
7. Type of sauce
8. Sharpens
9. Priestess loved by Zeus
10. Jean Henri , French ento
mologist
11. Regulates supply of fuel
13. Disturbing and horrifying
15. Equal (prefix)
17. Hosts film festival
18. Tattered piece of clothing
21. Rich desserts
23. Unique motor (abbr.)
24. Disfigure
27. Chemical substance
29. Slang for famous person
32. Department of Labor
34. The A-team rode around in one
35. Beach cabin
36. Living things
|39. Gun (slang)
40. Disconsolate
43. Stroke gently
44. Actress Richards
46. “Cletus Hogg” actor
47. Returned material authoriza
tion (abbr.)
49. Brazilian mountain range
51. Upset
54. One with supernatural insight
59. Insecticide
60. Taxi
61. “Much _ about nothing”
62. Cannister
64. Popular clothing retailer
eye- and sinus-opening ex
plosion of grown-up flavor.
Indeed, enjoying the freshly
sliced or grated root of horse
radish is something of an ac
quired taste...but once you
have that ability, what a won
derful condiment it is.
The bark-like exterior of a
root is generally peeled and
then finely grated. Try this in
your kitchen, and you will
quickly appreciate the potent
scent. The grated root is to be
used raw or mixed variously
with something like vinegar
or sour cream. We have ajar
of the vinegar-based prepara
tion right now in our refriger
ator, and it makes a
wonderful addition to a
turkey sandwich, or a dinner
of roast beef. There is a Pol
ish version that I’ve had, one
including a good bit of fer
mented red beets (also a tap
root!), bright red in the jar,
and a traditional addition to
the Easter dinner.
Such taproots are avail
able in grocery stores in well-
stocked produce sections. If
you are feeling adventurous
and bring one home, remem
ber that the strongest flavor
comes from the freshest ma
terial, so only grate as much
as you need. Hey, I’m not
much of a cook, but it makes
sense to me. ©JohnNel-
son2020
[John Nelson is the retired
curator of the A. C. Moore
Herbarium at the University
of South Carolina, in the De
partment of Biological Sci
ences, Columbia SC 29208.
As a public service, the
Herbarium offers free plant
identifications. For more in
formation, visit www.herbar-
ium.org or email
johnbnelson @sc. rr. com.]
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Term limits for Georgia
lawmakers proposed in
General Assembly bill
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
A state Senate committee
debated a measure Monday
to limit terms for Georgia
House and Senate members
to 12 years total, as well as
doubling the term for state
senators from two to four
years.
A constitutional amend
ment proposed by Sen. Greg
Dolezal, R-Cumming, would
set term limits for state
House members at six two-
year terms and for senators at
three four-year terms. The
limits would kick in starting
after the 2024 elections.
Currently, both House and
Senate lawmakers in Georgia
have unlimited recourse to
seeking two-year terms.
Dolezal’s resolution would
also limit Georgia’s lieu
tenant governor to two four-
year terms instead of the
current unlimited tenure.
“Term limits are some
thing that have bipartisan
support in every state of the
union,” Dolezal told mem
bers of the Senate Govern
ment Oversight Committee
Monday.
“The only thing that peo-
Hill City Elem.
school goes to
distance
learning
From school district
Hill City Elementary stu
dents will transition to dis
tance learning on the
itsLeaming platform for the
remainder of this week due to
the large number of instruc
tional staff who have been
placed in quarantine or isola
tion due to COVID-19. The
school has been on
yellow/alert status since late
last week. While we antici
pated numbers to drop, that
has not been the case. In
stead, they have increased
significantly.
Students and staff will
have Winter Break the week
of February 15th - 19th and
no assignments will be pro
vided during that time. In-
person classes should resume
at Hill City Elementary on
Monday, February 22.
We will be providing daily
curbside meal service at the
school between 11:30 and
12:30. If you are unable to
get to the school to pick up
meals and need them, please
email beththompson@pick-
enscountyschools.org by 9
a.m. daily. We will arrange to
have food delivered to you.
We fully understand the
impact school closures have
on all of our families, and we
wanted to notify you all as
soon as possible today so that
you could secure supervision
for your children.
For more information for
students and families at the
school see information at the
school’s website
(pickens.kl2.ga.us) or reach
out to your child’s teacher.
pie seem to agree on is that
we should come down here,
accomplish our work [and]
have it be a season of our life
as opposed to perhaps the en
tire book of our life.”
No votes were taken on
the constitutional-amend
ment on Monday. If it clears
committee, both chambers in
the General Assembly would
have to pass it by a two-thirds
vote. It would then be placed
on the ballot for Georgia vot
ers to decide.
The resolution met with
pushback Monday from
freshman state Sen. Nikki
Merritt, D-Grayson, who ar
gued term-limited state law
makers might be more
swayed by lobbyists during
their final years in office
without the incentive of seek
ing reelection.
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