THE BROWN-WORT. 39 



on the tender shoots of the water fig-wort, even 

 when better pasture was at hand. 



Our species (S. nodosa) very closely resembles the 

 aqudtica, but is distinguished by its long, triangular, 

 heart-shaped leaves, which have a purplish brown 

 hue, and by the distinctly square stem, which has 

 merely a slight membranous appearance of a wing 

 at each angle; while the leaves of the S. aqudtica 

 are bluntly oval at the point, of a good clear green, 

 and the stem has very conspicuous wings protruding 

 from its angles. The chief difference, however, lies 

 in the root, which in the 8. nodosa is knobbed or 

 knotted, while in all the other species it is fibrous. 

 I have been thus precise in pointing out the means 

 of distinguishing between the two, because the blos- 

 soms so exactly resemble each other ; and because 

 the nodosa is the only one of the English species 

 which appears to be really possessed of medicinal 

 properties. 



The name of Scrophuldria has been derived from 

 the employment of the plant in the cure of scro- 

 fulous complaints ; it is now, however, rarely used 

 for this purpose, except in the rustic practice of the 

 peasants of Wales, who hold it in the highest esti- 

 mation for various swellings, boils, and even burns ; 

 applying it either in the form of an ointment, or, in 

 simpler cases, merely tying a leaf on the part affected. 

 From their almost unlimited faith in its virtues, it 

 has received the name of Deilen dda, good leaf; or 

 Deilen ddu dda, good black leaf; the latter title 

 alluding to the colour, and corresponding with the 

 English Brown- wort, and the German Braunwurtz. 



