112 MEDICINAL HERBS AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



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There is a steady deinand for the plant, which can be 

 grown easily in cottage gardens. 



Rosemary {Rosmarinus ojjicinalis), — • This old- 

 fashioned plant, which forms a dense bush about 4 feet 

 high, is not a native of Britain, although it is cultivated 

 in the South of England. The leaves are stalklcss, grey. 



and about an inch long, pnngently aromatic, and some- 

 what camphoraceous. They are gathered for the pro- 

 duction of oil of rosemary. The oil is a slight stin)ulant, 

 and formerly was extensively used to relieve headache 

 and mental weariness, possibly also to hide from the 

 curious an indulgence in sack, Canary, and Malvoisie. 

 Did not Dame Margery cover her weakness by stoutly 

 declarino; that the odour from her still-room at curfew 

 was due to Kosemary ? At the present day the herb is 

 employed as a stimulant, but only for external use, its 

 usefulness in this respect being well established; conse- 

 quently we find Rosemary figuring largely in hair- 

 washes. Internally it is now very rarely given. It is 

 also used as a preservative in making candied fruit. 



The plant flourishes best in a light sandy loam in a 

 well-drained sunny position. It does not figure in Mr. 

 Holmes's lists of plants in request T)y herbalists. 



THYirE. Thymus Seiyyllum (Wild Thyme), Thynws 



vulgaris (Garden Thyme). — There is only one native 

 species, namely the Wild Thyme, a little plant with a 

 much-branclied woody stem and siuiill fringed leaves, 



surmounted by numerous heads of purple flowers (fig- 

 71). It is common in dry, heathy places, its presence 

 in hot weather being perceptible at some distance owing 

 to its fragrant odour. The herb is used as a stimulant 

 and for curhig flatulency, but there seems now to be no 

 market for it The oil of thyme, so much used for the 

 production of the antiseptic thymol, is obtained from a 

 species native to South Europe called Thymus vulgaris. 



