446 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



springing from their axils ; both leaves and flowers 

 turn themselves towards the light. This plant is 

 also known by the name of creeping Jenny. 

 Strange to say, no legend or special medicinal 

 virtue appears to have attached to it. 



The bright yellow flowers of the mullein are 

 common 'in most of our banks and hedgerows 

 from midsummer to September, and very hand- 

 some they are, especially when, as is so frequently 

 the case, growing side by side with the devil's- 

 bit scabious and the yarrow, with which they 

 so charmingly contrast. The leaves are exceed- 

 ingly soft and downy, the down being formerly 

 plucked and used as a substitute for cotton lamp- 

 wicks. The word ' mullein ' is said to be derived 

 from the Latin mollis, soft. 



Many medicinal virtues were formerly ascribed 

 to this plant, the root, the flowers, and the seed 

 alike contributing to cure various ills. The first, 

 when boiled, was said to cure the toothache, 

 cramps, and convulsions ; the second, when dis- 

 tilled or dried, were supposed to be efficacious for 

 the gout ; while the seed, boiled in wine, was used 

 as a poultice for thorns, etc. 



Two plants bear the name of nightshade, the 

 one being distinguished by the name of deadly, the 

 other by that of woody. The former is somewhat 

 rare, the latter common. It is but a few days ago 

 that a specimen of the deadly nightshade was 

 brought to me for identification ; it was found 

 growing in a garden a short distance from my 



