236 FLORA HISTORICA. 



In Calabria it grows wild in great luxuriance, 

 near four feet high, affording excellent nourish- 

 ment to horses and mules, both green and when 

 made into hay ; and we earnestly recommend a 

 trial of its use in husbandry in this country, par- 

 ticularly to those farmers whose lands are situated 

 on chalky downs or hills where there is frequently ^ 

 a want of green fodder for cows, as it is well 

 known that since the introduction of Saint-foin 

 and Lucerne, many dairies have been set up, 

 where it was formerly thought impracticable, and 

 the cows which are fed on the French Honey- 

 suckle in Italy and Spain produce abundance 

 of milk, and the butter made from it good fla- 

 voured. 



It has long flourished in the British parterre, 

 having been known in this country previous to 

 the year 1596. 



Parkinson calls it " The Red-flowered Fitch- 

 ling, and the Red Satin-flower," and observes, 

 " some foohshly call it, the Red or French 

 Honeysuckle." 



The generic name of this plant is derived 

 from the Greek, 'H^uc/xa, sweetness, and a^ov, 

 ointment. It is considered a biennial plant, 

 but it grows stronger and becomes perennial if 

 cut down before it seeds. It flowers in June and 

 July in spikes of papilionaceous flowers of a rich 



