58 BOTANY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 



and Silene. The Poke is found flourishing 

 wherever the soil is good. 



L. Yes I know it very well ; we often use 

 the berries at school instead of ink. 



E. It is one of those plants, which, though 

 poisonous when old, can in its young state, be 

 boiled and eaten without danger as greens. The 

 berries are put in alcohol to make a tincture 

 which is used in curing rheumatism. The flow- 

 ers of the Arbutus add greatly to the beauty of 

 the class. It grows wild in the south of Ireland, 

 where it was introduced a long time since, and 

 is much celebrated by the Irish poets. Among 

 the rest is the Wood Sorrel, which is spoken of 

 as gem of a plant, so beautiful is it in every 

 part ; its almost transparent white flowers are 

 marked with minute purple veins, and these, 

 with its delicate light green leaves and its bright 

 rose colored root, fill up the measure of its at- 

 tractions; from it oxalic acid x is made. The 

 Wild Indigo Baptisia, is a very common plant, 

 covering the waste places of the country with its 

 yellow butterfly-shaped flowers, from July to 

 September. It derives its common name from 

 having formerly been employed as a substitute 



