WOODRUFF. , 147 



liver/* He also commends it as a " vulnerarie herbe," to be 

 applied to cuts and wounds. Other old writers give it 

 all the credit that Gerarde does, and much more. One, 

 we see, commends it as "good against the plague, both 

 to defend the heart and vitall spirits from infection, and 

 to expell the noysome vapours that are received/' and 

 another advises its use " in epelepsies and palsies/' Every 

 old writer could furnish illustrations, more or less numer- 

 ous, of its value, and we can therefore only wonder how 

 our ancestors ever came to be put beneath the lichened 

 stones that now form their memorial. 



The root of the woodruff is perennial, and puts forth 

 many creeping subterranean stems, which in turn send 

 down into the earth numerous fibres at short intervals 

 along their course, and freely throw up the flowering- 

 stems. Dodonaeus says: " In this countrie they plant it 

 in all gardens, and it loveth darke shadowie places, and 

 deliteth to be neare old moyst walles. Woodrowe 

 floureth in May, and then is the smell most delect- 

 able/' We have ourselves in the shade of the north side 

 of our house a large bed of it that never needs the least 

 attention, and is always a beautiful object. The stems 

 rise to a height of some six or eight inches, are four- 

 cornered in section, and smooth to the touch. The leaves 

 grow in rings round the stem, generally eight in number 

 in each whorl, and above these the stem branches 

 slightly and bears its terminal masses of white blossom. 

 The flowers are cross-shaped, and shatter very readily, and 

 these are succeeded by little globular burr-like seed-bearers, 

 each containing a single large seed. 



Amongst old names for it we find cordial-is and stellaria 

 the first, of course, from its supposed efficacy in heart- 



