146 MEDICINAL HEHr>S AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



feared that its reputation is a legacy beqnoatlied to us 

 by the " preutice-hands " of the Middle Ages. 



We have not exhausted the list of the Composites 

 which are made use of by the hex'balists. To those men- 

 tioned above we must add Ragwort (Seiiecio Jacoha^a), 

 Feverfew (Chrysanthemum Parthenium), Butterbur 



(Petasites vulgaris), and a feAv others. Space does not 

 admit of a detailed consideration of these plants, neither 

 is their importance such as would justity tlieir cultivation 



and collection, 

 RubiacesB.— 



Goosegrass 



Fiir. 91 



Whoiied Leaves of Goose- 

 grass Family 



Family. This family, in addi- 

 tion to possessing flowers 

 with fused petals and an in- 

 ferior ovary, has one out- 

 standino; feature which is 

 common to all its members, 

 namely the arrangement of 

 its leaves, which are whorled 

 (fig. 91). A plant showing 

 the three characters mentioned 

 above can be placed Avith cer- 

 tainty among the Rubiaceae. 



Cleavers, 



GOOSEGRASS, 



Clivers (Galium Aparine). 



This little plant is found 

 scattered in almost every neglected garden and almost 

 every hedge. The prickliness of the stem and leaves is 

 a sufficiently outstanding feature for purposes of recog- 

 nition, this characteristic being due to the fact that the 

 surfaces of these organs are covered with small hooks 



of a very tenacious nature. A person brushing through 

 a clump of Goosegrass carries witli him many reminders 

 of the plant which are not easy to brush away. The 

 stem is quadrangular, brittle, and jointed; the flowers 

 are few in number, small, and white. 



