WHITE 



These same pungent leaves also won it the name of " old man's 

 pepper," while in Sweden its title signifies field hop, and re- 

 fers to its employment in the manufacture of beer. Linnaeus 

 considered the beer thus brewed to be more intoxicating than 

 that in which hops were utilized. The old women of the Orkney 

 Islands hold "milfoil tea" in high repute, believing it to be 

 gifted with the power of dispelling melancholy. In Switzer- 

 land a good vinegar is said to be made from the Alpine species. 

 The plant is cultivated in the gardens of Madeira, where so 

 many beautiful, and in our eyes rare, flowers grow in wild 

 profusion. 



WILD CARROT. BIRD'S NEST. QUEEN ANNE'S LACE. 



Daucus carota. Parsley Family (p. 15). 



Stems. Tall and slender. Leaves. Finely dissected. Flowers. 

 White, in a compound umbel, forming a circular flat-topped cluster. 



When the delicate flowers of the wild carrot are still unsoiled 

 by the dust from the highway, and fresh from the early summer 

 rains, they are very beautiful, adding much to the appearance of 

 the roadsides and fields along which they grow so abundantly as 

 to strike despair into the heart of the farmer, for this is, per- 

 haps, the " peskiest " of all the weeds with which he has to con- 

 tend. As time goes on the blossoms begin to have a careworn 

 look and lose something of the cobwebby aspect which won them 

 the title of Queen Anne's lace. In late summer the flower- 

 stalks erect themselves, forming a concave cluster which has the 

 appearance of a bird's nest. I have read that a species of bee 

 makes use of this ready-made home, but have never seen any in- 

 dications of such an occupancy. 



This is believed to be the stock from which the garden carrot 

 was raised. The vegetable was well known to the ancients, and 

 we learn from Pliny that the finest specimens were brought to 

 Rome from Candia. When it was first introduced into Great 

 Britain is not known, although the supposition is that it was 

 brought over by the Dutch during the reign of -Elizabeth. In 

 the writings of Parkinson we read that the ladies wore carrot- 



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