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DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



annuals of most free and ready growth, forming great pests 

 in cornfields and gardens. Some are of high aromatic odour, 

 and tonic, bitter, and astringent ; but few possess poisonous 

 qualities. Many have medicinal virtues ascribed to them in 

 their native countries for the cure of wounds and snake- 

 bites. Many are used for food, and others produce sub- 

 stances useful in the arts, of which the most important will 

 be noticed. 



Jerusalem Artichoke {Helianthus tuherosus). This is said 

 to be a native of Brazil ; it is a tuberous-rooted plant, with 

 rod-like stems, rising to the height of from 5 to 7 feet, having 

 large alternate entire leaves. It was introduced to this 

 country two hundred and fifty years ago ; and, before potatoes 

 were known, its tubers were much used as a common article 

 of diet for the poorer classes. They are highly nutritious, 

 and are extensively used in France, but not now much culti- 

 vated in this country. This has nothing to do with the true 

 Artichoke, neither does it come from Jerusalem, the name 

 being only a misapplication of the Italian word girasole, and 

 the flavour of the root being something like Artichokes. 



Sun Flower {Helianthus annuiis). A well-known annual, 

 said to be native of Mexico and Peru, introduced about the 

 end of the sixteenth century ; under cultivation it produces 

 flowers a foot or more in diameter. It is a plant of great 

 utility, and is extensively cultivated in this and other 

 countries for its seeds, which are highly valued for feeding 

 sheep, pigs, poultry, pigeons, rabbits, &c., and is considered 

 superior to linseed for cattle. An oil is expressed from the 

 seeds, and is used in Eussia in cookery ; it is said to have the 

 flavour of olive oil. They are also ground up into a meal, 

 the finer kind being made into tea-cakes ; and in some parts 

 they are roasted and used in the place of coflee. It is an 

 excellent plant for bees, large quantities of honey and wax 

 being obtained from the flowers. The Chinese grow it very 

 extensively, and it is believed that a large portion of its fibre 

 is mixed with their silks. 



Chicory, or Succory {Cichorium Intyhus). A hardy peren- 



