2o6 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 



seemingly endless period. Cranesbill; corn marigold; 

 bastard dittany — Fraxinella; the great yellow gentian 

 — Gentiana lutea — whose roots furnish a tonic; the 

 Linaria or toad-flax; the moly or wild onion — of which 

 Rea lists many, including the "great moly of Homer," 

 that mythical plant which Hermes presented to 

 Odysseus as a defense against the enchantments of 

 Circe; the star of Bethlehem; the double "feather- 

 few"; Virginia silk (one of the Asclepias); spider- 

 wort — which Rea divides between the St. Bernard lily 

 and the American Tradescantia, apparently — ^the 

 "apples of love," planted for their ornamental fruits 

 — none other than our toothsome tomato; the double 

 white pellitory which was probably the white yarrow, 

 Achillea Ptarmica, although pellitory also referred to 

 Chrysanthemum Parthenium sometimes — which is 

 feverfew; scabiosas; Datura stramonium or thorn ap- 

 ple, and the American cardinal's flower — Lobelia 

 cardinalis — along with a few others altogether unim- 

 portant, are the most familiar things which were either 

 overlooked by Bradley, or were mentioned by Rea 

 without his having real warrant, perhaps, for including 

 them in the garden flowers of his time. Possibly he 

 stretched his list to the utmost, putting into it every- 

 thing that he knew of anyone's having made trial of in 

 an English garden. 



I am inclined to think that all of our native plants 



