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FAMILY HERBAL. 141 



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Flix Weed. Sophia chirur^rum. 

 A PRETTY wild plants about our waste place* 



and farm-j^ards ; conspicuous for its leaves, if not 

 so for iU flower* It grows two feci high ; and 

 the stalk is round, erect, very firm and strong, 

 and not much branched. The leaves are mode- 

 rately large, and most beautifully divided into 

 numerous small segments, long and narrow ; they 

 stand irregularly upon the stalks. The flowers are 

 fmall and yellow ; they stand in a kind of spikes 

 at the tops of the stalks. They are followed bj 

 short pods. The whole plant is of a dark green. 



The seeds are the part used : they are to be 

 collected wheii just ripe, and boiled whole. The 

 decoction cures the bloody flux, and is good against 

 the overflowina: of the menses. 



Flower Gentle. Amarantlius. 



A GARDEN flovver. There are many kinds 

 of it; but that used in medicine, is the large one 

 with the drooping purple spike. It grows to four 

 feet high. The stalk is firm, round, and channel- 

 ledi green sometimes^ but often red. The leaves 



are 



d broad even at tfie edges, and 



ed at the ends : they are very large, and are often 

 tinged with red. The flowers arc purple, and 

 Ihey grow in long beautiful spikes hanging down- 

 wards. 



The flowers are the part used. They are to be 

 gathered when not quite full blowu, and dried. 

 ' They are good against purging and overflow ng 

 of the menses in powder or decoction. 



