properties but also because it grows in the richest soil and 

 robs the true fodder plants of nourishment. In the Jura, 

 on the other hand, the farmers rather welcome it. They 

 say that the shade of its large leaves preserves the grass 

 for the cattle and prevents it becoming dried up by the 

 scorching sun. 



The White Veratrum will be easily recognised. Its 

 nearest relative, the Black Veratrum (Veratrum nigrum)^ is a 

 much rarer plant that grows in woods. It has reddish-black 

 or chocolate flowers, which grow in large spikes like those of 

 the plant here illustrated, but each individual flower has a 

 relatively longer flower-stalk. 



79 



