ST. JOHN S WORT MALLOW. 63 



its woolly stem ; it, and the two preceding it, are all very com- 

 mon, nourishing in woods and field borders in Yorkshire, Kent, 

 Somersetshire, &c. (Plate V., jig. 6). I fancy these species 

 were confounded by the old herbalists, and that the mystic 

 virtues of the one were extended to all. St. John's Wort used 

 to be employed to expel demons. People dressed their houses 

 with it on St. John's-eve, and in France and Germany branches 

 of it were placed at every door on that occasion. The yellow 

 juice of this plant closely resembles the gamboge of commerce. 

 The Perforated species was formerly called the " herb of war," 

 its perforations were supposed to resemble wounds ; and, con- 

 sequently, by the curious reasoning of analogy, which was then 

 in vogue, it was argued that it would heal them. 



" Hypericum was there, the herb of war, 

 Pierced through with wounds, and marked with many a scar." 



The Marsh St. John's Wort (H. elodes), I found in a peat- 

 pool on Rudd Heath, in Cheshire, a famous field for botanic 

 research ; but which cultivation is fast " reclaiming," as it has 

 done many a rich bog and fen. It is a thick succulent plant, 

 and, though growing an inch deep in water, was still clothed 

 with dense wool. The plant is only a span high, and its flower 

 is very small. 



Fanny has a Cornish member of this family, the Mountain 

 St. John's Wort (H. montanum) ; its flower is as large as that 

 of the Perforated species, but its colour is pale like St. Peter's 

 Wort ; it grows in hilly groves about Looe. 



The MALLOW order succeeds that of the St. John's Wort. 

 Here the sepals and petals are five, the latter twisted when in 

 bud. These are hairy plants or shrubs ; their qualities are 

 harmless, and in some instances useful. The rich-coloured 

 Hibiscus, and the stately Hollyhock belong to this group, and 

 there are foreign species still more beautiful. The Cotton 

 plant belongs to this order, and it is indigenous in Asia and 

 America. Many species are now cultivated in extensive dis- 

 tricts between the tropics. Cotton is a woolly substance which 



