390 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



an inch broad, are used by coopers ; catkins very long and 

 close together, the fertile (B) greenish-brown, the sterile 

 (A) yellow, with one or two large membranaceous bracteas. 

 Flowers July and August. The pollen of the sterile flowers 

 is very inflammable, and is used by firework-makers instead 

 of the Club Moss. Flowers July and August. 



There is another species, the LESSER CAT'S TAIL or 

 REED-MACE (T. angustifolia) Fig. in " E. B.," 1336. Much 

 less common, easily distinguished from the Great Cat's Tail 

 by the leaves being linear and grooved below ; sterile and 

 fertile catkins a little distant from each other. Flowers July. 



The young shoots of both these species are much eaten 

 by the Cossacks of the Don, and are sometimes used in 

 England under the name of Cossack Asparagus. 



The MARSH WORT or FOOL'S WATERCRESS (Helosciadium 

 nodiflorum) Fig. in "E. B.," 573 574 from the Greek word 

 elos, a marsh, and skiadion, an umbel, is found by the side 

 of our lakes and small rivers. The leaves greatly resemble 

 those of the Common Watercress, but are readily distin- 

 guished by the dilated sheathing base of the leaf-stalk, 

 which is not so in the true Watercress. The juice mixed 

 with milk is a popular remedy in some cutaneous dis- 

 orders. The flowers are small and white. Flowers July 

 and August. 



The WATER- HEMLOCK or COWBANE (Cicuta virosd) Fig. in 

 " E. B.," 571. Hooker says Cicuta was a term given by 

 the Latins to those spaces between the joints of a reed of 

 which their pipes were made, and the stem of this plant is 

 similarly marked by hollow articulations. Although not 

 very common, it occasionally is found by the side of some 

 of our rivers. We have found it on the Itchen. The 

 juice is a deadly poison, very fatal to man and horned 

 cattle, yet goats devour it eagerly, and sheep and horses 

 eat it with impunity. The stem rises from two to four 

 feet high, hollow and leafy ; the leaves are on long stalks, 

 bright green ; leaflets pointed and spear-shaped ; the clusters 

 of flowers white, upright, and large. Flowers July and 

 August. 



The BROAD-LEAVED WATER-PARSNEP (Shim latifoliuni) 



