190 COMPOSITE 



cure cold and cough ; it was also used as a cosmetic. It is still employed 

 externally as a lotion in cutaneous disorders. Some authors include it in the 

 genus Chrysanthemum. 



2. Scentless Mayweed (M. inoddra). — Leaves sessile, twice pinnatifid, 

 the segments thread-like ; stem branched, spreading ; receptacle convex ; 

 pappus entire, or 4-lobed ; annual. A perennial variety of this plant, grow- 

 ing on the sea-shores, having fleshy leaves and a hemispherical receptacle, 

 is sometimes described as M. maritima. Everybody knows the common May- 

 weed, with its very convex yellow disk and long white ray, though it puzzles 

 the young botanist by belying its name, and having an odour which, though 

 not aromatic, is powerful and unpleasant. It is in flower from June to the 

 end of autumn ; its stem is about a foot high, and the blossoms large, and on 

 long naked flower-stalks. It grows on banks, field-borders, sea-beaches, and 

 other waste places. 



The variety called maritima, which is often found on parts of the shore 

 exposed to the sea spray, has been found, on analysis by Mr. Brand, to contain 

 iodine ; and the specimens having been well washed previously to analysis, the 

 iodine could not have been derived from saline incrustation. Some other 

 plants, as a moss called the seaside grimmia, and the pretty flower called 

 thrift (Stdtice armaria), were found also to contain it. Iodine was found to 

 exist in all the tissues of these plants gathered from the seaside, the specimens 

 being perfectly healthy. Subsequent investigations have detected iodine in 

 a number of substances hitherto unsuspected. M. Chatin believed it to exist 

 in marine and fresh-water plants in all quarters of the globe, while coal is 

 rich in the iodine derived from vegetables of former ages. The anti-scorbutic 

 effects of water-cress, and some other aquatic plants, have been attributed to 

 the presence of iodine in their tissues ; and it has been suggested that plants 

 growing in running water, or in large bodies of water which may be strongly 

 agitated by the winds, contain more iodine than those of stagnant water ; and 

 that the proportion is very small in species which are submerged either 

 partially, or only at intervals. Iodine is well known to exist largely in many 

 seaweeds. 



3. Wild Chamomile (M. chamomilla). — Leaves smooth, twice pinnatifid, 

 with thread-like segments ; involucre with blunt scales, slightly membranous 

 at the margin ; receptacle oblong, narrow, and much raised ; annual. The 

 flowers of this plant have a conical disk, and short, toothed, white rays. 

 They expand from June to August, and have a bitter flavour and aromatic 

 odour very much like that of the true Chamomile-flower, for which they are 

 often substituted. Their properties, however, are somewhat less powerful 

 than in that species. This plant grows on waste grounds, and in corn-fields. 



46. Chamomile (Jnthemis). 



1. Common Chamomile {J. nohilis). — Leaves twice pinnate ; segments 

 very slender and awl-shaped, somewhat downy ; receptacle conical, the scales 

 scarcely longer than its disk ; perennial. Of all the plants which won 

 in the olden times a reputation for their sanatory properties, none have 

 retained more credit in modern days than the Chamomile. In villages, it is 

 regarded as supplying the very best of tonics, and chamomile-tea is taken in 



