July 1, 1S66.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



163 



BOTANY. 



"Spiked Star of Bethlehem" {OrnitAogahm 



Pyrcenaicitui). — In this neighbourhood it grows in 

 such abundance that it is annually sold in Bath 

 market as a vegetable, under the name of " Erench 

 Asparagus." The part eaten is the uucxpanded 

 flower-bad ; the flavour is delicate, somewhat re- 

 sembling common asparagus, and as it is very cheap, 

 about 2d. a bunch, 1 believe there is always a ready 

 sale for it. This is about the proper season for it. 

 I see by Withering' s " Botany " that the neighbour- 

 hood of Bath has always produced this plant, as the 

 edition of 1812 mentions it as growing in the same 

 localities it now inhabits. — 31. J. P. 



"Erench Marygold." — May I venture to sug- 

 gest to " S. C." that the plant described by him 

 under this name in last month's Gossip is not the 

 rightful owner thereof ? Calendula officinalis is the 

 name of the common marygold ; but any florist, or 

 amateur gardener, if asked for the French marigold, 

 would point to the Tagetes patula, equally common 

 and well .known, with its elegantly-cut foliage, and 

 large chocolate-coloured ray-florets. This, the true 

 French marigold, is a native of Mexico, and appears 

 to have been introduced to this country at about 

 the same time as the Calendula. With reference to 

 the " winking Mary-buds," I rather faucy that a 

 Ranunculus, probably R. Ficaria (pilewort) "was in- 

 tended — at least, I should imagine from the context 

 that a mid flower was alluded to. — B. 



White-elowerd Wood Violet {Viola sylvatica). 

 — Three specimens of this were fouud on the 30th 

 of April last, by Mr. Frank Wheeler, of High Wy- 

 combe, in a lane near that place. The blossoms 

 possessed a faint, sweet scent ; each petal w r as quite 

 white, and unveined, but narrower and smaller than 

 is usually the case. The form V. Reichenbachiana is 

 not known to occur in the Wycombe district, or I 

 should have been inclined to refer the specimens to 

 that rather than to our common form, V. Riviniana. 

 I think the variety is sufficiently rare to be worthy 

 of special mention.— B. 



Early Purple Orchis {Orchis mascula). — The 

 scent of this species varies greatly in individuals. 

 In some specimens gathered in a wood near Butts- 

 bury, Essex, when I was staying there two or three 

 years ago, the odour was most offensive, becoming 

 much stronger towards evening ; while others, from 

 the same locality, were remarkably fragrant. Is this 

 pecubarity capable of explanation ? — B. 



A new Duckweed.— Dr. Henry Trimen has 

 found the long-sought species of duckweed (Lemna 

 archiza) in the neighbourhood of London. It was 

 alluded to as probably one day to be found in 

 Britain in Vol. i. of this Journal, p. 6 and 261. 



Bural Natural History. — Perhaps the follow- 

 ing local names and uses made of certain plants here 

 at Drayton, in Leicestershire, may be interesting to 

 the readers of Science Gossip. The dandelion 

 {Leontodon Taraxacum) is made into a beer by the 

 poor people, and is supposed to purify the blood, 

 and cure gravel and scarlet fever. They pick the 

 flowers and dry them in the sun or in an oven ; they 

 then boil them and add yeast to them, and after 

 having left the beer to ferment for a time, they bottle 

 it and use it when it is wanted. Here gooseweed 

 {Potentilla anserina) is used for taking away the 

 marks of small-pox. They boil a number of the 

 roots down, and rub it over the marks. Whether 

 it cures them or no I do not know, but they put 

 great faith in the above cure. Gooseweed is here 

 called silver-weed. Black horehound {Ballota 

 nigra) called here " Bound's wounds wort," is sup- 

 posed, when made into a tea, to be a cure for asthma, 

 bronchitis, consumption, and diseases of the chest 

 in general. I tried the tea the other day out of 

 curiosity, and never, with the exception of senna 

 tea, tasted such disgusting stuff. The nettle {Urtica 

 dioica) is eaten as a spinach, and is used by the 

 poor for cutaneous eruptions. Beer is made out of 

 the parsnip {Pastinaca saliva) but they do not use 

 it for any disease, but drink the»beer, much as we 

 should eat it at dinner. The chickweed {Stellaria 

 media) is used as a spinach. I tasted it the other 

 day in a cottage, and very good it was too. They 

 make tea also out of the following plauts : — thyme, 

 hyssop, French marygolds, and mint. The tea made 

 from them is used to cure measles, small-pox, and 

 cutaneous eruptions. Here the bindweed {Con- 

 volvulus arvensis) is called " devil's gut," and the 

 common male fern is called snake's ladder. I make 

 it a rule, whenever I come home from a walk, to 

 find out all the local information concerning the 

 plants I have gathered that I can. Can any of your 

 correspondents tell me whether they have ever 

 tasted rhubarb wine ? It must be very sour stuff — 

 W. Bethell, Drayton, Leicestershire. 



[We drank of it in Norfolk about a week since ; it 

 was not "sour stuff," but though thin and with 

 little flavour, it was very agreeable as a cheap 

 beverage.— Ed.] 



Vervain. — The Germans to this day present a 

 hat of vervain to the new married bride, as if to put 

 her under the protection of Venus victorious, which 

 is evidently a remnant of ancient customs. — Flora 

 Historica. 



Monstrous Mushroom.— I have just gathered 

 in my garden a mushroom, similar to the one de- 

 scribed and figured on page 209, Vol. i. of Science 

 Gossip. My specimen is exactly represented by 

 the portion in the drawing below the dotted line.— 

 Robert Holland. 



