STINKING MAYWEED 185 



ALgopodium, Linnaeus, is from the Greek aix, aigos, goat, and pans, 

 podos, a foot, from the shape of the leaf. Podagraria, Lobel, is derived 

 from the Latin word for gout, podagra. The plant is called Achweed, 

 Aise, Aiseweed, Aishweed, Wild Alder, Ground Ash, Ashweed, Axweed, 

 Ayshweed, Bishop's Elder, Bishop's Weed, Dog Eller, Dwarf Elder, 

 Wild or Ground Elder, Farmer's Plague, Garden Plague, Goat-weed, 

 Goutweed, Gout-wort, Herb Gerard, Jack-jump-about, Jump-about, 

 Kesh, Setfoil, Weyl Esh, White Ash. The name Wild Alder is 

 applied from a superficial resemblance to the leaves of the Aider. 

 The name Farmer's Plague, &c., refers to the difficulty of eradicating 

 it; so, too, Garden Plague. The common name Goutweed is due to 

 the reputed virtue of the plant in curing gout. The name Herb 

 Gerard is given because St. Gerard was formerly invoked against 

 gout. 



Goutweed was introduced and much cultivated in the Middle Ages. 

 The smell is like Angelica. It used to be eaten as a spring salad. In 

 spite of its reputed use for gout it was not so employed in Chaucer's 

 time. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



125. sEgopodium Podagraria, L. Rhizome creeping, stem erect, 

 hollow, furrowed, leaves ternate, serrate, radical, unequal at base, 

 flowers white, in terminal umbel, bractless, fruit ovoid. 



Stinking Mayweed (Anthemis Cotula, L.) 



A familiar cornfield pest (to the farmer at least), Stinking Mayweed 

 is found in Europe, North Africa, Siberia, West Asia, and has been 

 introduced into North America. It is unknown in early deposits. In 

 Great Britain it is found in the Peninsula, Channel, Thames, Anglia 

 and Severn provinces, except in West Gloucs and Monmouth; in 

 Wales in Brecon, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Carnarvon, Denbigh, Flint, 

 Anglesea; in the Trent, Mersey, H umber, Tyne, and Lakes provinces, 

 except in Westmorland; and in Dumfries, Lanark, Roxburgh, Had- 

 dington, Edinburgh, Fife, Dumbarton, Hebrides. It is thus rare in 

 the N. of England and in Scotland. It is common in Ireland, except 

 in the N.W. of Ireland. Watson regarded it as a colonist. 



Stinking Mayweed is confined almost entirely to cultivated ground, 

 being common in cornfields and other arable tracts, and also on waste 

 ground, in gardens, and allotments. It may be found near hayricks or 

 cattle-sheds, stackyards, and farmyards, being always a follower of the 

 plough. 



