rLANTAGINACE-K. 1 fiO 



arc said to reduce the swelling, pain, and iufloinmation csascd by the bito or sting of 

 iiinects ; but when wo read tlic list of disorders for which this common herb was 

 consideifd a rcinrdy, wo can but wonder at the powerful imai,'inations of the old 

 physicians, as well as their jiatient.s. So great was its reputation for closing wounds, 

 that Pliny says of this or an allied species, on " high authority," that " if it bo put 

 into a |H)t where many pieces of flesh arc boiling, it will soddcr them together." No 

 wonder then, that Romeo said of the broken shin — 



" Your plantain loaf is excellent for that." 



The Highlanders ascribe such virtue to tho plant in healing wounds that its Gaelic 

 name signifies " healing plant." 



Decoctions of plantain entei-ed into almost every old compounded remedy, and it 

 was boiled with docks, conifrey, and a variety of flowers. Pliny tells how an eminent 

 physician prided himself on having first discovered this wonderful herb. " Notwith- 

 standing," atlds tho Roman naturalist, " it Ijo a trivial and common hearbc, ti-odden 

 under every man's foot." Cowley saj-s of it — 



" Madness of dogs most certainly it cures, 

 As tho great author Pliny us a.ssures." 



It was once a popular belief that before a toad had a battle with a spider, she would 

 fortify herself with some of this plant, and that if wonnded in the encounter, she 

 would again have reconi-se to it as a cure. 



The small mucilaginous seeds of the plantain are relished by most little birds, and 

 quantities of tho ripe spike arc gathered near London for the supplj' of the caged 

 binls of the metropolis. From their .small size and tho abundance with which they 

 are produced in every field, the seeds have been carried by our race to most countries 

 where we have made settlements — a fact wliich induced the natives of North America 

 to call the plant by a name signifying the " Englishman's foot," it appearing to spring 

 up wherever the soil was tmdden by the bold intruders to whom they were forced 

 to yield their old hunting grounds, 



SPECIES II.-PL ANT AGO MEDIA. Lhm. 



Plate MCLXIII. 



Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVII. Tab. MCXXIX. Fig. 3, and MCXXXVII. 



Fig. 2. 

 BlUot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. E.xsicc. No. 7730. 



Leaves all radical, with rather short often indistinct winged petioles, 

 or subsessile ; lamina oval or cUiptical-oval, attenuated at each end, 

 5- to l)-ril)bed, ropand or more or less dentate tliroiifjhout. Scape not 

 furrowed, much exceeding the length of the leaves; flowerless part of 

 the scape much longer than the leaves. Bracts oblong-ovate, rather 

 shorter than the caly.x, boat-sliaped, glabrous. Sepals glabrous, not 

 keeled. Corolla tube glabrous. Capsule imperfectly 2-celled. Seeds 

 1 in each cell, flat on the inner face. Plant hispid-pubescent. 



By roadsides, on banks in waste places and pastures. Very com- 

 mon in clialky districts, more rare elsewhere, but generally distributed 



Vi-L. VII. Z 



