Lib. 3. Of theHiftory of Plants. 1507 
V The Temperature. 
The leaues of miike Trefoile docoole, as O/^rflifowriteth; they affwage fwellings inthe be- 
ginning^ they be ftamped and laid vnto them with bread : the decoftion thereof drunke prouo- 
kethvrine : teacheth, that the leaues of MilkcTrefoilehauea digeftingorwafting qualitie 
mixed with awarerie and temperate facultie,as haue thofe of the Mallow. 
*J TheVertues. 
Women,laithCo/'«wf//a ) if they want miike muft fteepedry miike Trefoile in faitewater, and A 
when it is throughly foked, they muft thenextday mixaquartor thereabouts of thefame prefled 
or drained forthwith a little wine, and fo let it be giuen vnto them to drinke, and by that meanes 
they themfelues fhali receiue ftrength,and their children comfort by abundance of miike. 
Hippocrates reckoneth vp Milk-Trefoileamong thofe things that encreafe miike, in his bookeof B 
the Nature ofwomcn, and of womens difeafes. 
Alfo Ariftomacbxs of Athens in P/i>y ? commandeth togiue with wine the dry plant,and the fame C 
likewife boiled in water,to nurfes to drinke when their miike is gone. 
Democritus and Artftomachus do promife that you fhalhvant no Bees, if you haue miike Trefoile D 
for them to feed on : for all writers with one confent do conclude (as Galen faith) that Bees doe ga- 
ther of the floures of Miike Trefoile very great ftore of lionie. 
Columella teacheth, that Miike Trefoile is notable good for hennes, Bees, Goats, Kine, and all E 
kinde of Cattell,which quickely grow fat by eating thereof,and that it yeeldeth very great ftore of 
miike. 
The people of Bcticaand Valentia (where there is great ftoreof Cytifas) doe, vfe it very much F 
for the Silke Worms to hang their web vpon after they haue been well fed with the leaues ofMul- 
berries. 
Miike Trefoile is likewife a maruellous remedie againft the Sciatica, and all other kindes of G 
.gouts. 
T The dclcription that formerly was in the fir ft place belonged to that deftribedand figured In thefeuenth . 
Chap. 11. Of T^ajlard ctiA'f ilkc -Trefoile s. 
*[ TheDefcriptionl 
1 ' I 'His rife th vp with little ftalks from the root, brittle, very many in number, parted into 
f wings and branches,about which grow many leaues lefler than thofe of the medow Tre- 
ot.CjO co our gieenc : the floures about the tops of the twigs be orderly placed in maner like ears, 
Oi co our yellow. Idler than thofe of broom, otherw tie all alikedn their places grow vp (lender cods 
longinarrow^nd ldferthan the cods of Broome : rough alfo and hairy ; in which do lie little blac- 
ks 1 feeds : tire root is long,and groweth deepe,and oftentimes creepeth aflope. 
? The fecond kinde of baftard Milkc-Trefoile is like vnto the former in plentifull ftalkes and 
twigges, out that it is lower and more downie; neither doe the ftalkes thereof ftandvpright, but 
rather incline to the one fide:the leaues alio are fomewhat greater, but yet IdTer than thofe of the 
medow i re'Oi le, whollywhite, and they neuer open themfelues out, but keep alwaies folded with 
the middle rib (landing outrthe floures likewife be clofelier ioined together, and compaaed as it 
were mto a little head, and be alfo fomething greater: the cods in like manner are a little bigger 
and hairy, and of a blackilh purple or murrey : the root groweth deepe in the ground, being diuided 
into a few iprigs ; it oftentimes happeneth to grow in one place more hairie or downie than in ano- 
, 1 ; . 1 m . ore ‘ la hie and downie it is, the more white and hoarie it is : for the hairineffe doth alfo 
bring with it a certaine whitilfl colour. 
3 The third kinde of baftard Miike Trefoile bringeth forth a companie of young (floors that 
are fomewhat writhed and crooked, long leaues ofafaire greene colour: the floures are clofed to- 
gether, Iong,whit c ,ot elfe galbineous,fweetly fmelling,that is to fay,hauing the fmel ofhonie- the 
iflrub it ielfe is alwaies greene both Sommer and Winter.:* This growes feme foot or better high, 
v !“ a hoarie branches,fet with leaues three (landing together vpon a very lflort ftalke, and 
the middle Ieafe is as long againe as the other two . they are very white and hoarie, and the yellow 
floures grow out of the bournes of the leaues all alongft the ftalks. This is that mentioned in the 
vertues of the lOrmer chapter a: F for the Silke wormes toworkevpon. * 
4 The fourth Iflrub is lixevvife one of the wilde kinde, though in face and ftature like the ma- 
nured 
