30 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
Root tapering, frequently of the thickness of a man’s finger. 
Stem very firm, almost woody at the base, 1 to 4 feet high. 
Leaflets 4 to 1 inch long, those of the lower leaves obovate, those 
of the upper elliptical, all serrate. Stipules triangular-subulate, 
with the base adhering to the leafstalk. Racemes axillary, stalked, 
? to 2 inches long when in flower, 14 to 3 inches long (excluding the 
stalk) when in fruit. Flowers deep yellow, 4 inch long. Calyx- 
teeth nearly equal, triangular-subulate, as long as the tube, which is 
not ruptured by the mature fruit. Pedicels about as long as the 
calyx-tube when in flower, and then slightly curved, but hooked 
downwards when in fruit. Pod 4 inch long, black when ripe, 
with an indistinct network of elevated veins, and numerous short 
adpressed deciduous hairs. Seeds 1 or 2, yellowish, cordate-ovate, 
with the base unequal, compressed. Plant bright-green, glabrous, 
or nearly so. 
Common Melilot. 
French, Mélilot Officindl. German, Gebrduchlicher Steinklee. 
At one time this plant was cultivated in England for fodder, but it is now seldom 
seen, having, like the Medick, given place to the clover. In Switzerland and the 
neighbouring countries it abounds in the pastures, and is an ingredient in the green 
Swiss cheese called Schabzeiger, which is made in the canton of Glarus, and is by many 
persons highly esteemed. It is stated in many books that this plant enters into the 
composition of the Gruyére cheese, which is altogether erroneous. The Schabzeiger cheese 
is made by the curd being pressed in boxes with holes to let the whey run out ; and 
when a considerable quantity has been collected, and putrefaction begins, it is worked 
into a paste with a large proportion of the dried herb Melilotus reduced to a powder. 
The herb is called in the country dialect “Zieger kraut,” cwrd herb. The paste thus 
produced is pressed into moulds of the shape of a common flowerpot, and the putrefac- 
tion being stopped by the aromatic herb, it dries into a solid mass, and keeps unchanged 
for any length of time. When used it is rasped or grated, and the powder mixed with 
fresh butter is spread upon bread. It is either much relished or much disliked, like all 
such substances with a singular taste and smell. The whole plant has a peculiar scent, 
which becomes more perceptible when it is dry, and has some resemblance to Anthox- 
anthum, the sweet-smelling vernal grass. The flowers are sweet-scented, and a water 
distilled from them is used for giving flavour to various substances. In medicine this 
herb has had its day. It was at one time esteemed emollient and digestive. It is 
recommended by Gerarde in all manner of disorders—for a poultice, the juice to be 
dropped into the eyes to “clear the sight ;” alone with water to heal wens and ulcers, 
and also mixed with a little wine it “mitigatheth the paine of the eares and taketh 
away the paine of the head.” That the Melilot was at one time a very common 
crop in England we have Gerarde’s testimony, for he says, “for certainty no part of 
the world doth enjoy so great plenty thereof as England, and especially Essex, for I have 
seen between Sudbury in Suffolke and Clare in Essex, and from Clare to Hessingham, 
very many acres of earable pasture overgrowne with the same ; in so much that it doth 
not onely spoil their land, but the corn also, as Cockle or Darnel, and is a weed that 
generally spreadeth over that corner of the shire.” 
