STINKING MAYWEED 185 



^gopodiuvK Linnceus, is from the Greek aix, aigos, goat, ami pons, 

 podos, a foot, from the shape of the leaf Podagraria, Lobel, is derived 

 from the Latin word for gout, podagra. The plant is called Achweed, 

 Aise, Aiseweed, Aishweed, Wild Alder, Ground Ash, Ashvveed, Axweed, 

 Ayshweed, Bishop's Elder, Bishop's Weed, Dog Eller, Dwarf Elder, 

 Wild or GroiMul Elder, Farmer's Plague, Garden Plague, Goat-weed, 

 Goutweed, Gout-wort, Herb Gerard, Jack-jump-about, Jump-about, 

 Kesh, Setfoil, Weyl Esh, White Ash. The name Wild Alder is 

 applied from a superficial resemblance to the leaves of the Alder. 

 The name b^armer's Plague, &c., refers to the difficulty of eradicating 

 it; so, too, Garden Plague. The common name Goutweed is C\uq to 

 the reputed virtue of the plant in curing gout. The name Herb 

 Gerard is given because St. Gerard was formerly invoked against 



OfOUt. 



Goutweed was introduced and much cultivated in the Middle Ages. 

 The smell is like Angelica. It used to be eaten as a spring salad. In 

 spite of its reputed use for gout it was not so employed in Chaucer's 

 time. 



Essential Specific Characters: — 



125. j-Egopodinin Podagraria, L. — Rhizome creeping, stem erect, 

 hollow, furrowed, leaves ternate, serrate, radical, unequal at base, 

 flowers white, in terminal umbel, bractless, fruit ovoid. 



Stinking Mayweed (Anthemis Cotula, L.) 



A familiar cornfield pest (to the farmer at least), Stinking Mayweed 

 is found in Europe, North Africa, .Siberia, West Asia, and has been 

 introduced into North America. It is unknown in early deposits. In 

 Great Britain it is found in the Peninsula, Channel, Thames, Anglia 

 and Severn provinces, e.xcept in West Gloucs and IMonmoLith; in 

 Wales in Brecon, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Carnarvon, Denbigh, Plint, 

 Anglesea; in the Trent, Mersey, H umber, Tyne, and Lakes provinces, 

 except in Westmorland; and in Dumfries, Lanark, Roxburgh, Had- 

 dington, Edinburgh, Fife, Dumbarton, Hebrides. It is thus rare in 

 the N. of England and in Scotland. It is common in Ireland, except 

 in the N.W. of Ireland. Watson regarded it as a colonist. 



Stinking Mayweed is confined almost entirely to cultivated ground, 

 being common in cornfields and other arable tracts, and also on waste 

 ground, in gardens, and allotments. It may be found near hayricks or 

 catde-sheds, stackyards, and farmyards, being always a follower of the 

 plough. 



