Plants CX FIL Vol. VI. No. 



M ED ÎCAMÉNTAL PLANTS. 



Fig. 1. The common Ele- 

 campane. 



(Inula Helenium. L.) 



The common or genuine Elecampane is an 

 useful plant, which grows wild in several 

 parts of Europe and in some regions of Ger- 

 many, being cultivated on fields for its uti- 

 lity as also in gardens for ornament. The 

 long and thick roots, that have a strong and 

 bitter taste, are partly dried, partly employed 

 in medicine in several dissolutions. They 

 likewise form thereof a salutary wine and 

 beer of the same name. . The root, mixed 

 with pot -ashes and bill -berries, produces a 

 blue colour. From the root issues a stalk, 

 of 3 in 4 feet in height, furnished with 

 large and dented leaves, at the top of which, 



in the months of July and August , appear 

 the yellow and scentless flowers formed like 

 a star. 



Fig. 2. The common Soapwort. 



(Saponaria officinalis. L.) 



This salutary plant, 2 in 3 feet hi?h, 

 that grovvs uncultivated in Germany along 

 the roads and in hedges, bears white blos- 

 soms inclining to red, during the summer- 

 months. The leaves as well as the root 

 have soapy and solutive principles that offer 

 an approved remedy against many diseases. 

 For ornament it has been transplanted in the 

 gardens, whereby way of culture a variation 

 of it has been produced with clusters of 

 double flowers. 



