84 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
in early spring a taste for greens" is developed in most 
of us. The foreigner is most noticeable in collecting dan- 
delions because he, or rather she, has not learned to use 
our other available plants. One whQ has lived longer in 
the country could name many plants as useful and pos- 
sibly more palatable than the dandelion. To such the 
wild things of the ordinary farm-yard fence-comers may 
be made to yield numerous attractive additions to his fare 
v^hile almost any woodland or pasture will produce 
others. 
About the time that the dandelion is in its prime, the 
tender leaves of the cowslip {Caltha palustris) are much 
in demand b}^ those who know their qualities. Only the 
persistent gatherer, however, is likely to return with these 
as his prize, for they delight to grow in mud and water 
quite out of reach unless one is especially equipped for the 
work of gathering them. It is a matter for wonder that 
this plant should be edible since it is one of the Ranuncula- 
cege, a family noted for its possession of nauseous or 
poisonous plant juices. The cowslip is own cousin to the 
larkspur, aconite and hellebore. 
Another early pot-herb is called the winter cress {Bar- 
harea vulgaris) though the resemblance to the true cress 
is not very striking. It is most abundant in old fields 
and is so frequently used as to be dubbed ''poor man's 
cabbage." It is a member of the great crucifer family from 
which man has derived so many other edible plants and 
it is therefore not surprising that this, too, may be eaten. 
Possibly many other crucifers might prove palatable if 
we were to try them. The list of those we now use, 
though not as pot-herbs, is a long one and includes 
cabbage, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, radish, 
turnip, cress, pepper-grass, horse-radish, mustard and 
various others. The tops of horse-radish, turnip and 
mustard are often used for ''greens," and in some places 
both mustard and turnips are cultivated for this purpose. 
The standard wild pot-herb in most of the region in 
which it grows is the milkweed. There are many herbs 
