154 WILD FLO WEES. 



rulentiim) has its Inmdreds of flowers so lightly 

 set upon its stem, that a small blow given to it 

 with a stick, will scatter them all on the ground. 

 It has a quantity of mealy down on its leaves, 

 which comes off on the hand if it is passed 

 over them. The little moth mullein, {Verbas^ 

 cum blattaria) rare in most counties, but often 

 found in Kent, received its name from its virtue, 

 whether real or imagined, of driving from its 

 neighbourhood the blatter or cockroach. 



Two very poisonous flowers bloom during 

 July and August on waste grounds, and near 

 to houses or ruins. The thorn-apple and the 

 henbane are both to be dreaded for their dan- 

 gerous properties ; yet the narcotic principle 

 found in both, is useful when carefully admi- 

 nistered, and will give sleep to the sufferer 

 whose eyes have long waited for it in vain. 



The thorn-apple (Datura stramonium) is 

 rather a naturalized than, strictly considered, a 

 wild flower ; for our great herbalist Gerarde, 

 having received a present from Constantinople 

 of some of its seeds, dispersed it, as he says, 

 through the land. It is one of the most com- 

 mon and troublesome weeds in America, and 

 the colonists are at considerable pains to ex- 

 tirpate it, before they can transform the wild 

 wastes or crowded forests of that country into 

 fertile lands. Whenever any plants are brought 

 into England from America, its seeds are con- 

 veyed in the soil, and it springs up plentifully 

 around them. Its bell-shaped flower is very 

 handsome, and its delicate beauty is shielded 



