WILD PLANTS USED AS FOOD. 195 



A few pungent vegetables, and the aromatics of our 

 fields, probably seasoned the homely dishes of our 

 forefathers, before garden cultivation was understood, 

 or commerce brought the spices of the East, at a 

 cheap rate, to our doors. The mint and thyme and 

 marjoram of the downs gave zest to the barley-broth 

 of the poor cottager and the mustard and horse- 

 radish seasoned his salted meat. Several wild species 

 of cress also answered the same purpose ; amongst 

 which was Dittander, a species found chiefly in salt 

 marshes and near the sea. The leaves of this plant 

 are remarkably hot and acrid, and when pepper ' was 

 so dear that to promise a saint yearly a pound of it 

 was considered as a liberal bequest,' these leaves were 

 no bad substitute for giving pungency to food. They 

 were frequently used by the peasants for this purpose, 

 whence the plant has obtained the name of ' poor 

 man's pepper.' 



The FUNGI are the most abundant of spontaneous 

 esculent vegetables ; but they may be more conve- 

 niently noticed in another portion of this volume. 



