BUCK BE AN. 



Far dearer to me are yon humble Broom bowers, 

 Where the bluebell and gowan lurk lowly unseen ; 



For there, lightly tripping amang the sweet flowers, 

 A-listening the linnet, oft wanders my Jean." 



According to Thompson's London Dispensatory, this species 

 is useful for a vast number of purposes in medicine. 



BUCKBEAN (Menyanthes trifoliatd). — CALMNESS. 

 Repose, 



The Buckbean is one of our native plants, found frequently 

 in .boggy places and marshes. The flowers are white, some- 

 times flesh-coloured, tipped outside with a rosy pink. From 

 the flower-cup, often white as alabaster, springs forth a tuft 

 of filaments of great delicacy and dazzling whiteness. No 

 adequate notion of the elegance of this plant can be conveyed 

 in words. Those who have once seen it, lightly pendant 

 over the clear streamlet or the limpid water of its favourite 

 habitat, will never forget its appearance. The bright trans- 

 parency of the rivulet seems increased by the reflection of 

 this pretty dweller on its borders. The Buckbean is said 

 never to bloom in stormy weather, but only when the air 

 is calm and in repose : and this quiet calmness it appears 

 to impart to surrounding objects. 



Not only is the Buckbean ornamental, but useful. The 

 bee delights to sip its sweetness. It is a medicinal herb ; 

 and in times past was beneficially used to allay fever, to 

 soothe rheumatic pains, and to reduce suffering in the joints. 



41 



