SEA LAVENDER 189 



cinctaria), two Homoptera, Eupteryx tenella, Aphalara artemisia, two 

 Heteroptera, Seherus bicolor, Plagiognathus albipennis, and the flies 

 Cecidomyia foliorum, Spilographa artemisia, Leucopis anmilipes, are 

 found on it. 



The name Artemisia, Hippocrates, is derived, so Pliny says, from 

 the goddess Artemis, goddess of Chastity, Absinthium, Dioscorides, is 

 the Latin name for wormwood, taken from the Greek apsinthion. 



The names Absinth, Maderwort, Mingwort, Mugwort, Old Woman, 

 Warmot, Wormwood, are all applied to this plant. 



In reference to Absinth, Benevenuto, 1612, says: "Absinth and 

 poyson be my sustenance." 



When seen in dreams it was regarded as a good omen. On St. 

 Luke's day a maiden was told to "Take marigold flowers, a sprig of 

 marjoram, thyme, and a little wormwood; dry them before a fire, rub 

 them to powder, then sift it through a fine piece of lawn; simmer these 

 with a small quantity of virgin honey, in white vinegar, over a slow 

 fire; with this anoint your stomach, breasts, and lips, lying down, and 

 repeat these words thrice: 



' St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me, 

 In dream let me my true love see.' 



This said, hasten to sleep, and in the soft slumbers of night's repose, 

 the very man whom you shall marry shall appear before you." It was 

 called St. John's Girdle in Germany, and in Sicily St. John's Beard. 



In the Middle Ages it was often used as a remedy. It is said 

 to be tonic, antispasmodic, and antiseptic applied externally. It has 

 also been used in fevers, gout, scurvy, dropsy. It is said to be of use 

 as a stomachic. The seeds are used in rectifying spirits. It used 

 to be hung up to prevent infection, and with Rue was put in the 

 dock by the prisoner's side to prevent jail fever. It flavours absinth 

 and is used in beer abroad. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



162. Artemisia Absinthium, L. Stem erect, bushy, leaves lanceo- 

 late, silky, segments blunt, bipinnatifid, flowerheads drooping, dull 

 yellow, in hemispherical heads. 



Sea Lavender (Limonium vulgare, Mill.) 



The Temperate (Northern) Zone throughout Europe, N. Africa, 

 and N. America marks the limit of the range of Sea Lavender to-day, 

 no earlier records of its occurrence being known. In Great Britain it 

 is absent from the coasts of East Norfolk, Monmouth, Pembroke, 



