46 FAMILY HERBAL. 



Butchers-Broom. Ruscus. 



A LITTLE shrubby plant frequent on our waste 



grounds and heaths, vith small prickly leaves 

 and bushy tops. The plant grows a foot and a 

 half high. The stalks are roundish, striated, thick, 

 and very tough. They are naked towards the 

 bottom, and divide into some branches towards the 

 top : they are there covered with leaves. These 

 leuves are short, broad, oval, and pointed, the point 

 running out in a prickle ; they areof a bluish green, 

 and very thick and fleshy. The flowers are seldom 

 regarded ; they grow in a singular manner upon the 

 backs of the leaves ; they are very small and pur* 

 pHsh : these are succeeded each by a single berry, 

 which is red, round, and as big as a pea. Tlie roots 

 arc white, thick, and numerous- 



The root is the part used, and it is an excellent 

 medicine to remove obstructions. It works power- 

 fully by urine, and is good in jaundices, and in 

 stoppages of the menses, and excellent in the gravel. 



Buck-beans. TrifoUum palustre. 



AN herb better known by the common people, 

 than among the apothecaries, but of great virtue. 

 It grows wild with us in marshy places, and is 

 of so very singular appearance, that it must be 

 know n at sight. It grows a foot high, the leaves 

 stand three upon each stalk, and these stalks rise 

 immediately from the roots. They are thick, 

 round, smooth, and fleshy ; and the leaves them- 

 selves are large, oblong, and have some resemblance 

 of those of garden-beans. The flowers, stand 

 upon naked stalks, which are also thick, round, 

 fie*hy, and whitish : they ar^ small, but they grow 



