494 



HISTORY OP THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



undei'-shrub of the family labiates, a native of 

 tlie south of Europe, and introduced into Britain 

 in 1058. Tlie leaves and flowers are highly aro- 

 matic, and-produce by distillation the well known 

 oil of lavender, so much esteemed as a perfume. 

 The leaves, and especially the flowers, are col- 

 lected, dried, and put into places where linen is 

 kept, to impart to it their odour. It is of easy 

 culture, and prefers a dry, rather sandy soil, in 

 which situations the odour of the flowers is 

 greatest. 



Tansy (tanaceUim vulgaris). This is a peren- 

 nial plant, growing on the sandy banks of rivers 

 in many parts of Britain. It belongs to the 

 family composites and syngenesia, of Linnaeus. 

 The young leaves, which partake of the aromatic 

 flavour of the plants of the labiatw, are used in 

 cookery. The flowers have a pungent, aromatic 

 odour. 



Samphire (critlimum mariiimwn). Natural 

 family umhelliferm ; pentandria, digynia, of Lin- 

 nseus. The common samphire is a perennial 

 plant, a native of Britain, and grows on rocky 

 cliffs by the sea side, and on dry stone walls. 

 The root leaves are triternate, those of the 

 stem lanceolate and fleshy; the flowers appear 

 on a stem of about eighteen inches high in 

 August, and are of a yellow colour. The name 

 is a corruption of the French Saint Pierre. 



It forms an excellent pickle, and a frequent 

 addition to salads. In taste it is crisp and aro- 

 matic, and constitutes a light and wholesome 

 condiment. It was at one time much more 

 extensively used than now, when many other 

 foreign aromatics have been introduced into this 

 country. 



CHAP. XL VII. 



TREES AND PLANTS USED IN DYEING. 



The nature of vegetable colouring matter, and 

 the principal products of this kind obtained from 

 the vegetable kingdom, have already been noticed 

 in the twenty-first chapter of this work: we 

 now proceed to describe those trees, shrubs, and 

 herbaceous plants which yield the several kinds 

 of djres. 



The Logwood Tree (hcematoxylon campechi- 

 anum). Natural family fe9M)?i?B0.5(By decandria, 

 monogynia, of Linnseus. This tree is a native 

 of South America, and does not attain a height 

 above twenty to twenty-five feet. Both the ti-unk 

 and branches are extremely crooked, and covered 

 with a dark coloured, rough bark. The smaller 

 ramifications are numerous, close, prickly, or 

 beset with strong sharp spines. The leaves are 

 pinnated, generally composed of four or five 

 pairs of leaflets, of an irregular, oval shape, 



obliquely nerved, and obtusely sinuated at the 

 top. The flowers are yellow, and gi-ow in 



racemes, or in close, regular, terminal spikes, 

 and appear in March : these are followed by long, 

 double-valved pods, containing oblong, com- 

 pressed, and somewhat kidney-shaped seeds. 



This tree is of rapid growth, and very easily 

 propagated; so that under cultivation a flourish- 

 ing plantation may be formed in a few years. 

 It thrives best in marshj' ground; but this ground 

 must not be alwaj's under water. Trees of full 

 growth are from sixteen to twenty-four feet in 

 height, and from five to six feet in circumfer- 

 ence. 



This tree was first discovered in the baj'S of 

 Campeachy and Honduras, growing in the greatest 

 luxuriance and abundance. It was known as a 

 dye-wood as early as the reign of Elizabeth, but 

 its use was forbidden by an act of parliament for 

 "abolishing certain deceitful stuff^s employed in 

 dyeing cloths." The act sets forth that "log- 

 wood, orblockwood, of late years brought into this 

 realm, is expressly prohibited to be used by dyers, 

 the colours thereof being false and deceitful to the 

 queen'ssubjectsathome,anddiscreditablebeyond 

 seas to our merchants and dyers." The injunc- 

 tion against the use of this valuable dye was 

 rigorously enforced, and all logwood found was 

 seized and condemned to be burnt. The English 

 were probably at that time ignorant of the 

 manner of applying this dye with proper mor- 

 dants. The prohibition was continued until the 

 year 1661, the words of the act by which it was 

 then repealed stating "that the ingenious indus- 

 try of these times hath taught the dyers of 

 England the art of fixing colours made of log- 

 wood; so that by experience they are found as 

 lasting and serviceable as the colour made with 

 any other sort of dye-wood." 



Immediately after this repeal logwood became 

 in great request, and adventurous individuals 

 were induced to make exertions to obtain a 

 supply. This tree is one of the productions of 

 the province of Yucatan, where the possessiona 



