WINGED PEA.

Red Birdsfoot Trefoil. _Mill._ Lotus tetragonolobus.

A hardy, creeping, or climbing, annual plant, fifteen or eighteen inches in height, or length; leaves trifoliate; flowers large, solitary, bright-scarlet; pods three inches and a half long, with four longitudinal, leafy membranes, or wings; seeds globular, slightly compressed, yellowish-white.

_Use._--The ripened seeds are sometimes used as a subst.i.tute for coffee; and the pods, while young and tender, form an agreeable dish, not unlike string-beans. It is often cultivated as an ornamental plant; and, for this purpose, is generally sown in patches, four or five seeds together on the border, where the plants are intended to remain.

When grown as an esculent, sow in double drills an inch and a half deep, and two feet apart; the single rows being made twelve inches from each other.

CHAPTER X.

MEDICINAL PLANTS.

Bene-plant. Camomile. Coltsfoot. Elecampane. h.o.a.rhound. Hyssop.

Licorice. Pennyroyal. Poppy. Palmate-leaved or Turkey Rhubarb. Rue.

Saffron. Southernwood. Wormwood.

BENE-PLANT.

Oily Grain. Sesamum, sp.

This plant is said to have been introduced into this country from Africa by the negroes. It is cultivated in the south of Europe, and in Egypt is grown to a considerable extent for forage and culinary purposes.

It is a hardy annual, with an erect, four-sided stem from two to four feet high, and opposite, lobed, or entire leaves; the flowers terminate the stalk in loose spikes, and are of a dingy-white color; the seeds are oval, flattened, and produced in an oblong, pointed capsule.

_Propagation and Cultivation._--It is propagated from seeds, which should be sown in spring, as soon as the ground has become well settled.

They may be sown where the plants are to remain; or in a nursery-bed, to be afterwards transplanted. The plants should be grown in rows eighteen inches or two feet apart, and about a foot apart in the rows. The after-culture consists simply in keeping the ground loose, and free from weeds. The plant is said to yield a much greater amount of herbage if the top is broken or cut off when it is about half grown.

_Use._--"The seeds were at one time used for food; being first parched, then mixed with water, and afterwards stewed with other ingredients. A sort of pudding is made of the seeds, in the same manner as rice; and is by some persons much esteemed. From the seeds of the first-named sort an oil is extracted, which will keep many years without having any rancid smell or taste. In two years, the warm taste which the new oil possesses wears off, and it becomes quite mild and pleasant, and may be used as a salad-oil, or for all the purposes of olive-oil. Two quarts of oil have been extracted from nine pounds of the seeds."

The properties of the plant are cooling and healing, with some degree of astringency. A few of the leaves, immersed a short time in a tumbler of water, give it a jelly-like consistence, without imparting color or flavor; and in this form it is generally used.

There are three varieties:--

BIFORMED-LEAVED. _Mill._

Plant larger than that of the Oval-leaved; the lower leaves are three-parted, while those of the upper part of the stalk are oval or entire.

OVAL-LEAVED.

Stem about two feet high, with a few short branches; the leaves are oblong, and entire on the borders.

TRIFID-LEAVED. _Mill._

Taller and more vigorous than either of the preceding. The upper as well as the lower leaves are trifid, or three-parted.

CAMOMILE.

Anthemis n.o.bilis.

This is a half-hardy, herbaceous, perennial plant, growing wild in various parts of England, by roadsides and in gravelly pastures. Its stems rest upon the surface of the ground, and send out roots, by which the plants spread and are rapidly increased.

_Soil and Culture._--Camomile flourishes best in light, poor soil; and is generally propagated by dividing the roots, and setting them in rows a foot apart, and eight or ten inches from each other in the rows. They will soon entirely occupy the ground.

_Gathering._--The flowers should be gathered in a dry day, and when they are fully expanded. They are generally spread in an airy, shady situation for a few days, and afterwards removed to a heated apartment to perfect the drying.

COMMON CAMOMILE.

The flowers of this variety are single. Though considered more efficacious for medicinal purposes, it is not so generally cultivated as the Double-flowering. Its leaves are finely cut, or divided; and, when bruised, emit a peculiar, pungent odor. It may be grown from seeds, or slips, and from divisions of the plants, or roots.

DOUBLE-FLOWERING CAMOMILE.

A variety of the foregoing, with large, white, double flowers. The leaves are of the same form, but milder in their odor and taste. It is equally hardy with the Single-flowering, and much more ornamental.

Though generally considered less efficacious than the last named, it is generally cultivated for use and the market on account of the greater bulk and weight of its flowers.

It is propagated by slips, with a few of the small roots attached. Both of the sorts are cla.s.sed as hardy perennials; but, in the Northern and Eastern States, the plants are frequently destroyed in severe winters.

_Use._--"The flowers, which are the parts princ.i.p.ally used, have long been in high repute, both in the popular and scientific Materia Medica, and give out their properties by infusion in either water or alcohol.

The flowers are also sometimes used in the manufacture of bitter beer, and, along with Wormwood, made, to a certain extent, a subst.i.tute for hops. In many parts of England, the peasants have what they call a 'Camomile seat' at the end of their gardens, which is constructed by cutting out a bench in a bank of earth, and planting it thickly with the Double-flowering variety; on which they delight to sit, and fancy it conducive to health."--_M'Int._

It is considered a safe bitter, and tonic; though strong infusions, when taken warm, sometimes act as an emetic.

COMMON COLTSFOOT.

Tussilago farfara.

A hardy, herbaceous, perennial plant. The leaves are all radical, roundish-heart-shaped, and from five to seven inches in diameter; the flower-stem (scape) is six or seven inches high, imbricated, and produces a solitary yellow flower, which is about an inch in diameter.

The plants blossom in February and March, before the appearance of the leaves, and often while the ground is still frozen and even covered with snow.

_Propagation and Culture._--Coltsfoot thrives best in rich, moist soil.

It may be propagated from seeds, but is generally increased by dividing its long, creeping roots. The plants require little attention, and will soon occupy all the s.p.a.ce allotted.

_Gathering and Use._--The leaves are the parts of the plant used, and are generally cut in July and September. They should not be exposed to the sun for drying, but spread singly in an airy, shaded situation. They are esteemed beneficial in colds and pulmonary disorders.