426 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



those of the common bindweed or withy wind. It 

 is stated that from one of the Convolvulaceae (Con- 

 volvulus cissits) a description of paper, known as 

 bindweed paper, has been manufactured ; the same 

 plant has also been used for the stuffing of chairs 

 and mattresses, as well as by rope-makers. The 

 root of the common bindweed was also supposed 

 to have its medicinal value, though for what special 

 purpose I am unable to state. 



The brooklime, so often, and with such serious 

 consequences, mistaken for the watercress, along- 

 side of which it grows, is, nevertheless, when 

 the two plants are compared, in many respects 

 so unlike as to render it difficult to under- 

 stand how such a mistake can arise. The leaf 

 of the brooklime is more fleshy, of a ranker 

 green, more glossy, and of a different shape to 

 that of the watercress. The flower of the one 

 (the brooklime) is blue, that of the watercress 

 white ; the flavour of the former is acrid, pungent, 

 and nauseous to a degree, yet, notwithstanding, 

 it was formerly esteemed as an antiscorbutic. 

 Botanically speaking, the watercress belongs to 

 the genus Nasturtium, being the Nasturtium 

 officinale ; whereas the brooklime, otherwise called 

 the beccabunga, a name derived from the German 

 (bach, a brook, and bunga, a basket for catching 

 fish), is one of the tribe of Veronica. Strange to 

 say, wherever the watercress grows, the brook- 

 lime is nearly always to be found flourishing by 

 its side. 



