THE OEIGIX OF OUE KITCHEN GAEDEN PLANTS. 199 
hj tlie side of ditclies^ near tlie sea^ wliere tlie water is 
brackish. Radical leaves_, on channelled petioles^ green or 
pui'plish^ stem leayes_, ternate_, on short petioles^ flowers in 
umbels^ axillary^ and greenish white. The wild plant is rank_, 
coarse^ and suspicions in its appearance, but cultivation trans- 
forms it into one of the sweetest and most wholesome of om* 
esculents. 
Celery is grown in trenches, and as the plants grow their 
stems are covered with earth ; the light is thus excluded, the 
stems are blanched or turn white, and are thus rendered edible. 
Celery appears to have been flrst cultivated in Italy, for the 
word itself is of Italian origin, it having been formerly called 
Ache in England, which is, in fact, its true English name. 
There is in the natural order Umbelliferm two active j)rin- 
ciples, the narcotic and the aromatic; the former develops 
itself when these plants are found in moist grounds, and renders 
them i^oisonous; the latter principle predominates when the 
Umbelliferie grow in dry ground. This may help to cause 
the difierence between wild and cultivated celery, which always 
grows best in a rich well-drained soil. The process of blanching 
also doubtless assists in rendering the poison peculiar to the 
wild plant inert, as the active principles of the leaves of plants 
are rarely developed when they are deprived of the light. 
The Parsley {Fetroselinum sativum ). — The parsley is so 
well known, that a description of it is perfectly unnecessary. 
It is a hardy biennial, a native of Sardinia, and was introduced 
into England in 1548. It has naturalized itself in some parts 
of England on old walls and rocks, usually near the sea. It 
was used by the Romans as a pot herb, and was also known to 
the Greeks. The curled variety of parsley is most common in 
the gardens, and is the safest to cultivate, as from the beautiful 
curl of its foliage it cannot be mistaken for the poisonous fooTs 
parsley [CEtliusa cynapium, L.). 
The Cabbage [Brassica oleracea, L.). — This plant belongs to 
the natural order Cruciferse [crux, a cross; fero, to bear), in 
allusion to the petals of the flowers, which are four in number, 
and arranged in the form of a Maltese cross. The horse- 
radish, cress, mustard, and the difierent variety of cabbage 
and turnip all belong to the same natural order. This plant 
grows wild on European sea-shores, and various places on the 
English coast — for instance, at Dover and Penzance, where 
the shores are rocky. The leaves of the wild cabbage are 
lyrate, glaucous, wavy, the plant occasionally growing from 
one to two feet in height ; the flowers light yellow ; pods 
erect. In spring the sea-cabbage may be gathered and 
eaten. It was no doubt resorted to as food by the early inha- 
bitants of Great Britain long before any attempt was made at 
