Wild Flowers as They Grow 



Now, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and prob- 

 ably long before that, this plant had a great reputa- 

 tion for healing wounds — ^its very name, Solidago, is 

 a corruption of " in soUdum ago vulnera " {" I 

 consoUdate wounds ") — and for this purpose it used 

 to be imported in a dried state from abroad and 

 sold in the London markets, as much as half-a-crown 

 an ounce being paid for the powder made from it. 

 But, alas for its reputation ! One day someone 

 discovered that it was actually growing wild— a 

 mere weed !-r-in Hampstead Wood, " even as it were 

 at our townes end," and then no one had any longer 

 the shghtest beUef in its powers, and, in fact, no 

 one would give even half-a-crown a hundredweight 

 for it then, " which plainly setteth forth our incon- 

 stancy and sudden mutabilitie," laments Gerard. 

 After a bitter gibe at " phantastical Physitions," he 

 adds, " This much have I spoken to bring these 

 new-fangled f ellowes backe againe to esteeme better 

 of this admirable plant than they have done, which, 



no doubt, hath the same vertue now that then it 



184 



