160 FLAVORING AND BEVERAGE PLANTS 



of safety varies wideh" with different individuals, and in the 

 same individual under different conditions of health and sick- 

 ness, and at different ages. Stimulants, therefore, may be 

 helpful or harmful according to the amount used and the 

 bodily condition of the individual. Overstimulation is al- 

 ways followed by harmful reaction resulting in more or less 

 exhaustion or derangement of the system which may lead 

 to grave consequences, especially in the case of young people. 



Fig. 155. — Wormwood (Arte7msia Absinthiiwi, Sunfiowci raiiiily. Com- 

 positae). Plant in flower. Leaf and flower-clusters. Outer floret, i. 

 Inner floret, i. (Baillon.) — A perennial herb, about 1 m. tall; leaves 

 white-silky; flowers greenish; fruit grayish. Native home, Europe. 



All food which has an agreeable flavor is more or les.s 

 stimulating. In vegetable foods as we know the flavor nat- 

 urally belonging to the plant or developed by heat is often 

 strongly marked and characteristic, as, for example, in turnip, 

 parsnip, celery-, cucumber, muskmelon, pineapple, peanut, 

 and pop-corn; and this flavor is due commonly to the presence 

 of a volatile oil, the amount of which, however, is so small that 



