700 The American Naturalist. [August, 
herb for its economical uses in the kitchen and medicine merits 
culture in every garden,” and names for varieties the plain- 
leaved, the curled-leaved, the variegated-leaved, and the scentless. 
Both the common and the curled are figured by Dodonzus ® in 
1616, and are mentioned in other botanies of this period. It was 
in American gardens before 1806. 
Tansy ® or tansie* is called in France, tanaisie, barbotine, herbe 
amere, herbe aux vers, tanacee; in Germany, gemeiner rainfarn, 
revierblume, wurmkraut; in Denmark, reinfang ; in Italy, ata- 
nasia, tanaceto, erba santa-maria ; in Spain, tanaceto™ 
TARRAGON. Artemisia dracunculus L. 
This plant, widely spread over South Russia, was brought to 
Italy, probably from the shores of the Black Sea, in more recent 
times. The first mention on record is by Simon Seth, in the 
middle of the twelfth century, but it appears to have been scarcely 
known as a condiment till the sixteenth century. The leaves 
make an excellent pickle, and are sometimes used in soups and 
salads. The flowers, as Vilmorin says, are always barren, so the 
plant can only be propagated by division. Its culture is men- 
tioned by the botanists of the sixteenth century, and in England 
by Gerarde® in 1597, and by succeeding authors on gardening. 
Rauwolf,” 1573-75, found it in the gardens of Tripoli. In 
America it is mentioned by McMahon ® in 1806. 
Tarragon is called in France, estragon, absinthe estragon, dra-- 
gonne, fargon, herbe dragon, serpentine, torgon; in Germany, 
dragon, bertram, esdragon, schlangenkraut ; in Flanders and Pol- 
and, dragonkruid ; in Denmark, estragon, kaisersalat ; in Italy, 
dragoncello, targone, serpentaria ; in Spain, estragon; in Portu- 
gal, estragas.® 
52 onzus. Pempt., 
© Vilmorin. Les Pl. “deg ee 552. 
š Turner. Libellus, 1538. 
55 Targioni-Tozzetti. Hort, Trans., 1854, 148. 
5 Gerarde. Herb., 1597, 193. 
5? Gronovius. Orient., 106. 
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