BUCK'S-HORN OR HART'S-HORN PLANTAIN 115 



rosette close to the ground ; stems each surmounted by a spike of 

 minute yellow flowers, which are succeeded by small membranous 

 capsules filled with very small, egg-shaped light brown seeds. 



Their germinating power con- 

 tinues for four years. 



Culture. — The seed is 

 sown, where the crop is to 

 grow, either in spring or 

 autumn ; in either case, the 

 ground is cleared off at the 

 end of summer. The plants 

 require no attention, except 

 whatever weeding is needed 

 to keep the ground clean, in 

 addition to plentiful water- 

 ings, without which the 

 leaves soon become hard 

 and leathery. As the plant 

 yields abundan»tly, the sow- 

 ings are usually made on a 

 limited scale. 



Uses. — The young leaves 

 are used for mixing in salads. 

 Very rarely cultivated in England. It is a widely distributed and 

 common native plant in sandy and stony places, especially near 

 the sea. 



Buck's-horn or Hart's-horn Plantain, or Star 

 of the Earth natural size ; separate 

 leaves, k natural size). 



EDIBLE BURDOCK, or GOBO 



Lappa ediilis^ Hort. CompositcB. 

 French, Bardane geante. Japanese, Gobo. 



Native of Japan. — Biennial. — Radical leaves very large, heart- 

 shaped, somewhat resembling those of the Patience Dock, but not 

 so much elongated ; stem red, very branching ; flowers violet-red, 

 in heads bearing hooked scales like those of the Common Burdock ; 

 roots of the kind known as tap-roots, cylindrical, rather fleshy and 

 tender when they are young ; seeds oblong, grayish, with a hard 

 covering, resembling that of the Artichoke. Their germinating 

 power lasts for five years. 



It is doubtful whether this plant is specifically distinct from the 

 Common Burdock (^Arctium Lappa), a very common weed in all parts 

 of Europe. It is certainly larger in all its parts, but this might be 

 the result of cultivation, as it has long been grown in Japan in 

 exactly the same manner as Salsafy and Scorzonera arc with us. 



Uses. — The roots, which grow from i ft. to 16 in. long, are 

 boiled and served up in various ways. The plant was introduced 



