n. - A substance of very wide occurrence. It is found dissolved
in the sap of the roots and rhizomes of many composite and other
plants, as Inula, Helianthus, Campanula, etc., and is extracted by
solution as a tasteless, white, semicrystalline substance, resembling
starch, with which it is isomeric. It is intermediate in nature between
starch and sugar. Called also dahlin, helenin, alantin, etc.