'IMi: AM IRICAX I?()TANIST 147 



lia\e made '\a'niiaii(K'r" hdiu clunnacdrxs hut ^tran,i(cr Tiiis- 

 lakc'S than this have hceii made hy the unlettered Tritcriuni 

 sconuloiiia is the ".germander sa,i,a'". A species of another 

 i^a-inis, r/ilcinis tuhrrosa, is the "'lerusaleni sa^e" and "sage- 

 leat mullein." the latter name ,i;i\en in reference to its woolly 

 leaves. 



Second only to sage, or possihly hefore it, as a healing 

 herl) is PnincUa I'ulyaris. The genus is named fn^n the Ger- 

 man lira II lie a disease of the throat (quinsy) for which it was 

 once regarded as specific. Its reputed curative powers were 

 even of wider api)lication for the jjlant is also known as "heal 

 air, "self heaT', and "all heal". It was regarded as especially 

 good for cuts as we Inid hinted at in "Sicklewort", "hook 

 heal", "hook weed", and "carpenter's hcrh." "Scjuare stem" 

 is a name which must have heeu given to the plant by some- 

 lue who failed to observe that most mint stems are square. 

 Carpenter's scjuare" has no reference to that artizan's best 

 knowu im[)lement but is another reference to the shafjc of the 

 stem. "Brown wort" (from hniiiiic), of course refers to its 

 use in the cure of ((uinsy. "Heart-of-the-earth," sometimes 

 ajiplied to this plant, is said to he gi\en it because it uses up 

 the soil, but to me it seems more likely that it alludes to the 

 plant's many virtues, whose excellence these more degenerate 

 modern days utterly fail to sul)stantiate. "Blue curls" refers 

 to the fifnvers and is probably the conmionest common name of 

 the plant at i)resent in spile of the fact that TricJiostemiua also 

 bears it. "Blue Lucy" is another name refering to the color 

 of the tiowers. "Dragon head" appears to be a fanciful name 

 and "thimble flower" a meaningless one, though by a great 

 stretch of the imagination one might fancy the spike of seed 

 pods to resemble a thimble. 



Still another group of reputed vulnerary plants are the 





