I 12 
SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN 
We may here fitly notice the darnel, a name now 
given to the wild rye-grass (Lolium perenne, L.) and 
its allies, but in Shakespeare’s time applied generi- 
cally to many cornfield weeds. Thus, 
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 
In our sustaining corn. 
King Lear, IV. iv. 5 ; 
and again in King Henry V., V. ii. 44 : 
Her fallow leas 
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory 
Doth root upon. 
