FEVERFEW. 95 



leaves have their outlines clearly and sharply toothed. 

 The foliage is of a bright, fresh-green colour, and, if we 

 may be allowed the expression, rather flimsy to the touch. 

 This latter peculiarity causes the plant to quickly assume 

 a withered appearance when gathered and carried in the 

 hand, though a prompt plunging into water will quickly 

 restore matters again. The delicacy of the leaves makes 

 them speedily show either injury or care taken with them. 

 The flower-heads are numerous, from half an inch to an 

 inch in diameter, and as the lower ones are on longer 

 stems than the upper, the general mass of blossom in the 

 plant is all at about the same level. The numerous flowers, 

 with their brilliant golden eyes and pure white rays, give 

 the plant a very bright and cheery look. The whole plant 

 has a somewhat strong smell, and the leaves have a 

 decidedly bitter taste ; and it has been suggested that a 

 decoction of it might be efficacious as a tonic. It does 

 not, however, follow that, because tonic medicines are 

 often bitter, we may assume that bitter things are therefore 

 tonic. 



The feverfew should be looked for on waste ground and 

 in the hedgerows. It is generally dispersed over Britain, 

 but does not seem to be anywhere very abundant; Bentham 

 suggests that it may not perhaps be truly indigenous. It 

 is one of the later flowers of the year, and should be 

 searched for from July to September. As it has long been 

 held in medicinal repute in rustic practice and precept, it 

 may not uncommonly be found in the cottager's garden, 

 and a very double variety may often be found in gardens 

 of higher pretensions. In the garden variety the only 

 difference is in the compact, almost ball-like, flower-heads ; 

 the foliage and general growth resemble that of its hedge- 



