Aracacha
or ARRACACHA (ar-akä'cha), a genus of umbelliferous plants of South and Central America.
The root of A. esculenta is divided into several lobes, each of which is about the size of a large carrot. These are boiled like potatoes and largely eaten in South America.
ARACAN (ar-a-kan'), or ARAKAN, the most northern division of lower Burma, on the Bay of Bengal; area, 18,- 540 square miles; pop. about 800,000. It was ceded to the English in 1826, as a result of the first Burmese war. ARACEÆ (ar-as'ē-i), an order of endogenous plants having for their inflorescence a spadix placed within a spathe. They have neither calyx nor corolla.
The leaves are frequently cordate. The fruit is succulent, with many seeds. They are acrid in character, and often poisonous. The caladium sequinum, or dumb cane of the West Indies and South America, when chewed, causes the tongue so to swell as to cause temporary dumbness. There is one species known as the arum maculatum.
ARACHIDIC ACID (C20H4002 C19 H30: COOH), a monatomic fatty acid, obtained by the saponification of the oil of the earth nut (arachis hypogæa). It crystallizes in minute scales, which melt at 75°. It is soluble in boiling alcohol and in ether.