10 ENGLISH WILD FLOWEBS. 



In Ireland ihey are frequently used as greens, and so 

 is the PushocJt dwee, as the Sinapis arvensis (Common 

 Charlock) is called in Munster. The charlock is 

 allied to the family of Mustard Plants (S. nigra and 

 S. alba), the seeds of which when crushed yield the 

 well-known condiment. Another British plant is the 

 Horse Radish (Cochlearia armor acia), which, though 

 acrid, is not poisonous; the roots of Aconitmn napellus 

 have, however, been fatally mistaken for it. The 

 "Water-cress (Nasturtium offidnale) is also a native 

 of Britain ; but whether we can claim the Parsley as 

 indigenous is open to discussion, though every boy 

 knows that it grows wild in many parts of this old 

 reahn of ours. 



"We yet find in some remote country districts the 

 relics of a bygone economy in the use of many plants 

 for food or medicine. Boys yet hunt for the delicious 

 Pig Nut (Bunium flexuosuni), the luxury of Caliban. 

 Diet drinks are made of the " sunflower of spring," 

 as Ebenezer Elliot calls the well-known Dandelion 

 (Taraxacum dens leonis), the early leaves of which, 

 slightly blanched, are a not-to-be-despised addition to 

 the early spring salad, neither is the Salad Burnet 

 (Poiei'ium sanguisorla^ the flavour of which is not 



