POT-HERBS 31 



once formed the vegetable supply of our popula- 

 tion. 



In its strict sense, as used by the early botanists, a 

 pot-herb is a " herbe that serves for the potte," and of 

 these we have a considerable number in our native 

 flora. Amon^ them may be mentioned the wild cab- 

 bage, sea-beet, and mercury. The use of the wild 

 cabbage or sea colewort is hardly extinct yet. It is 

 still gathered by the peasants on the sea cliffs of 

 Devonshire in hard winters when garden produce 

 is scarce. This plant is the origin of our garden 

 varieties, such as savo3^s and brussels-sprouts and 

 broccoli and cauliflower, and has been cultivated from 

 very early times. The great naturalist, John Ray, 

 noticed it growing wild on " Dover Cliffs," where it 

 still flourishes in remarkable abundance. Indeed, in 

 summer time the white chalk cliffs from Dover to St. 

 Margaret's Bay are gay with the pale yellow blossoms 

 of this plant. It may also be seen in considerable 

 plenty on the picturesque cliffs which command the 

 entrance to Dartmouth Harbour, in South Devon, 

 In the Isle of Wight it was formerly abundant, espe- 

 cially on the Culver Cliffs between Bembridge and 

 Sandown ; but for some reason it has disappeared of 

 late years. The sea-beet {Beta luaritiina, L.), some- 

 times called sea-spinach, the origin of our beetroot 

 and mangold-wurtzel, is a common plant near the sea. 

 It is mostly abundant in salt marshes, and on banks 

 and waste places along the shore. Fifty years ago 

 the young leaves were regularly gathered by the 

 poorer classes in the Isle of Wight, and "boiled and 

 eaten as greens with the pork or bacon which then 

 formed so constant an article in the dietary of our 

 Hampshire peasantry." Occasionally the plant is so 



