54 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
slightly enlarged upwards, rounded at the apex, which is embraced 
by the base of the tube of the corolla equally on both sides, 
with 3 striae on the inner face, smooth on the back and sides ; 
epigynous disk small, without a distinct crown. 
On commons and pastures, particularly on gravelly soil. 
Bather common in the South of England, becoming rarer in the 
North ; scarce and probably not native in Scotland, though found 
as far North as Orkney. 
England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Perennial. Late Summer 
and Autumn. 
Bootstock shortly creeping, much-branched. Stem rooting at 
the base ; branches generally ascending only at the apex, rarely 
erect. Leaves more divided than in any of the preceding species of 
Anthemis, with the segments much shorter, finer, more numerous 
and closer together. Peduncles elongate. Anthodes £ to 1 inch 
across. Achenes very small, pale olive-brown, nearly smooth, 
except the 3 faint stria3 on the inner face, the upper part remain- 
ing invested with the persistent base of the corolla ; epigynous 
disk very small, with scarcely any prominent border. Plant 
greyish-green, more or less hairy or pilose. 
Common Chamomile. 
French, Camomille llomaine. German, Iiomische Kamille. 
The use of this herb in medical practice is of great antiquity. Gerarde tells us 
that " the Egyptians have used it for a remedie against all cold agues, and they 
did therefore consecrate it, as Galen sayeth, to their deities." The flowers possess 
certain tonic and febrifugal qualities, and at one time had a great reputation in 
many disorders. They contain a bitter extractive matter and volatile oil, which also 
exist in the seeds. In ancient times the powder was much used in agues, and in 
modern times even Cullen speaks favourably of its effects. A simple infusion under 
the name of Chamomile tea, is, or was, a very common domestic remedy for indigestion 
and stomach complaints. Chamomile is cultivated largely in the neighbourhood of 
Mitcham, in Surrey, and in other places in the vicinity of London. It was formerly 
planted in gai'den walks, that it might be odoriferous to the tread ; and it was 
to this practice that Falstaff alludes when he reminds the prince, that "though the 
Chamomile the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is 
wasted, the faster it wears." Beside the use of Chamomile-flowers in infusion as a 
drink, their power of retaining heat has recommended them as a fomentation or 
cataplasm ; and a popular remedy for face-ache and other pains is a fomentation of 
poppy-headfl and Chamomile flowers. 
GENUS AL—D I O T I S. Desf. 
Anthodes liomogamous and discoid, many-flowered. Clinanth 
hemispherical or shortly conical, with palea). Pericline campanulate- 
hemispherical, of numerous herbaceous imbricated woolly phyl- 
