254 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ton's American Weeds and Useful Plants.) The poison hemlock 

 grows only in waste and uncultivated fields, especially meadows, 

 and ditches near towns. It is easily destroyed by cultivating the 

 ground for a season, or by cutting the stems just before seeding. 



41. Cauaway — Cariim carui. Well known plant, needs no description. 



Caraway seeds have a pleasant odor, and a warm aromatic 

 flavor, and are much used in seed cakes. The plant often spreads, 

 becoming quite a troublesome weed. It should be carefully kept 

 within bounds. 



Ordek 16. GINSENGS— Araluce^. This family is repre- 

 sented in the Eastern States only by the genus Aralia. The 

 European Ivy — Hedera Helix — cultivated here for ornament, is a 

 member of this order. Some of the species possess well known 

 medicinal properties, viz., spikenard, sarsaparilla and ginseng. 



42. Bristly Sarsaparilla. Wild Elder — Aralia hixpida. Perennial. Stem one 

 to three feet high, shrubby at the base, and covered with stiff prickles; herbaceous 

 above', much branched. Leaves with numerous leaflets, ending in a long point. Flowers 

 greenish in simple globose umbels. Fruit of dark colored nauseous berries. 



A native plant, common along the borders of fields, and around 

 stumps and stone heaps. The dark purple or black berries are 

 about the size of peas, and have a sickening sweetish taste. The 

 whole plant has a rather disagreeable smell. It is probably not 

 very troublesome, yet no neat farmer will tolerate it. 



DIVISION II. The petals of the corolla more of less 

 UNITED — Monopetalous. 



Order U. M ADDER WORTS — Rdbiace^. " A very large 

 family, the greater part, and all its most important plants (such 

 as the cofiee and Peruvian bark trees,) tropical." — {Gray.) "The 

 madder, one of the most important dyes, is furnished by the root 

 of Ituhia tinctoria. * * * Coflee is the hard albumen of the 

 seeds of Goffea arabica, a tree of moderate size, Avith a light 

 brown trunk, and a conical-shaped head. Leaves shining, light 

 green. Flowers white, fragrant. The berries are black when 

 ripe. Colfee is said to have been used in Ethiopia from time 

 immemorial. In Paris and London it seems to have been in gen- 

 eral use earlier than the year seventeen hundred." — ( Wood.) 



43. Bluets Innoce:*ce — Houxtonia cnrulca. Biennial. Stems throe to five inches 

 high, slender. Leaves about half an inch long, oblung. Flowers light blue, fading to 

 white, with a yellowish centre. 



