44 WILD FLOWERS OF SPUING. 



It sends up its leaves early in the year, and its reddish 

 purple labiate flowers, set in a whorl, are amongst the 

 first to welcome in the spring, and nearly the last to 

 disappear from the wayside flora. The flowers are not 

 showy or beautiful, but the plant has a good reputa- 

 tion as a styptic, and has long been used as a remedy 

 for stopping the effusion of blood. It is not unlike its 

 neighbour the Stinging Nettle, which is just peep- 

 ing through the ground, to the delight of rural boy- 

 hood, who have visions of nettle porridge before them. 

 The stinging variety is often boiled when young with 

 bacon, and eaten as greens. 



The Ground Ivy (Glechoma liederacea) is some- 

 times mistaken for the red dead nettle ; but its leaves 

 are kidney-shaped, and it trails along the ground; 

 hence its old name of " Gill Eun-along-the-ground." 

 Its odour is aromatic and not unpleasant, and it is 

 in good repute among old-fashioned housewives, who 

 have faith in it as a remedy for coughs and colds. It 

 has also the name of "Ale-hoof" and "Tun-hoof," and 

 brewers have used it to bitter their ale and give it an 

 agreeable flavour. , It has been recommended for 

 diseases of the eye, of the ear, and of the chest. Old 

 Gerarue lecoiumends it to be boiled in mutton broth, 



