96 CULINARY HERBS 



ing, thus giving the plant less chance to become a 

 nuisance. Often the clumps may be divided or lay- 

 ers or cuttings may be used for propagation. No 

 protection need be given, as the plants are hardy. 



An old author gives the followring recipe for hoar- 

 hound candy: To one pint of a strong decoction 

 of the leaves and stems or the roots add 8 or lo 

 pounds of sugar. Boil to candy height and pour 

 into molds or small paper cases previously well 

 dusted writh finely powdered lump sugar, or pour on 

 dusted marble slabs and cut in squares. 



Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis, Linn.), a perennial 

 evergreen undershrub of the Labiatas, native of the 

 Mediterranean region. Though well known in ancient 

 times, this plant is probably not the one known as hys- 

 sop in Biblical writings. According to the Stand- 

 ard Dictionary the Biblical "hyssop" is "an uniden- 

 tified plant . . . thought by some to have been 

 a species of marjoram (Origanum maru) ; by others, 

 the caper-bush (Capparis spinosa) ; and by the author 

 of the 'History of Bible Plants,' to have been the name 

 of any common article in the form of a brush or a 

 broom." In ancient and medieval times hyssop was 

 grown for its fancied medicinal qualities, for ornament 

 and for cookery. . Except for ornament, it is now very 

 little cultivated. Occasionally it is found growing 

 wild in other than Mediterranean countries. 



Description. — The smooth, simple stems, which grow 

 about 2 feet tall, bear lanceolate-linear, entire leaves and 

 small clusters of usually blue, though sometimes pink 

 or white flowers, crowded in terminal spikes. The 

 small, brown, glistening three-angled seeds, which have 



