DIDYNAMIA. GYMNOSPERMIA. Stachys. 71S 
S. palus'tris. Six to ten flowers in a whorl: leaves strap-spear-* * 
shaped, half embracing the stem, sessile. 
Curt. 208—( E. Bot. 1675— FI. Dan. 1103. E.)— Kniph. 7— Jliv. Mon. 26, 
1, Stachys palustris. — Sheldr. 45— Ger. 565. 2— Ger. Em. 1005— Black w. 
273— Ger. 852— Park. 852— Pet. 33. 9. 
{Roots creeping, becoming tuberous in autumn, and hence difficult of extir¬ 
pation. Sm. E.) Stems quadrangular, rough with hairs pointing down¬ 
wards. Leaves in opposite pairs, very soft, unequally serrated, spread¬ 
ing half way round the stem. Floral-leaves , two small ones under each 
whorl. Calyx purple, beset with fine hairs terminating in small globules. 
Blossom reddish purple, mottled; tube white ; mouth compressed ; upper 
lip, and all the segments of the lower lip, slightly notched at the end. 
{Spike long and dense, herbage strong-scented. E.) 
All-heal. (Marsh Woundwort. Irish: Cuslin gan Dauri. Welsh: 
Briwlys y gors. E.) Watery places and banks of rivers. P. Aug.* 
S. abven'sis. Six flowers in a whorl: leaves heart-shaped, crenate, 
blunt, almost naked: blossoms as long as the calyx: stem weak. 
Curt. 246— {E. Bot 3 1154. E.)—Fl. Dan. 587— Riv. Mon. 27. 2, Stachys 
arv. min .— Bet. 33. 12. 
Stem twelve to eighteen inches high, quadrangular, blunt, with spreading 
branches, sometimes decumbent; rough with hair. Leaves much less 
hairy than the stem. Leaf-stalks hairy. Calyx sessile, hairy, with five 
equal, sharp-pointed, shallow clefts. Blossom whitish, or flesh colour, 
scarcely so long as the calyx; helmet very entire; lip trifid, the mid¬ 
dle one the broadest, purplish, dotted, not notched. 
Corn Woundwort. (Welsh: Briwlys yr dr. E.) In corn-fields, (not 
uncommon. E.) A. June—Aug. 
fond of living under its shade ; (rather, as in some other instances, from the moisture of 
such spots, than from any peculiar predilection in the reptile for disagreeable smells. E.) 
Sheep and goats eat it. Horses, cows, and swine refuse it. (Mr. Purton suggests that, 
with many others of this Class, it may be converted to the same purposes as hemp and 
flax. E.) 
* (A plant formerly in high repute as a vulnerary, as its English names intimate. For 
a curious account of its problematical virtues refer to Gerard. In a sceptical age, little 
credit is given to the accounts transmitted by our forefathers of the wonder-working 
efficacy of various native herbs ; and the plants are therefore rather too unceremoniously 
cast aside. Doubtless many of them merit more strict attention, and that they and their 
reported virtues may not be wholly lost sight of, it is still important to discriminate them 
by their more ancient or vulgar names. Nor were these, to the confiding patients, devoid 
of comfort: for, as it is pleasantly observed in the Journal of a Naturalist, “ modern 
science may wrap up the meaning of its epithets in Greek and Latin terms; but what 
pleasure it must have afforded the poor sufferer when the good neighbour came to bathe his 
wounds, or assuage his inward torments, with such things as “All-heal, Break-stone, 
Bruise-wort, Gout-weed, Fefer-few ” ( fugio ), and twenty other such comfortable mitiga- 
tors of his afflictions ; why, their very names would almost charm away the sense of pain I 
And then the herbalist of old professed to have plants which were “ All-good; ” they 
could assuage anger by their “Loose-strife; ” they had “ Honesty, True-love, and Hearts¬ 
ease.” The extra tropical condiments of these days were not required, when the next 
thicket would produce “ Poor Man’s Pepper, Sauce Alone, and Hedge Mustard; ” and the 
woods and wilds around, when they yielded such delicate viands as “ Fat-hen, Lambs’- 
quarters. Way-bread, Butter and Eggs, with Codlinsand Cream,” afforded no despicable bill 
of fare. The terms of modern science fluctuate daily; names undergo an annual change, 
fade with the leaf, and give place to others; but the ancient terms, which some may 
ridicule, have remained for centuries, and will vet remain till nature is swallowed up by 
art.” E.) 
