The Comfrey of our river banks, and moist watery places, is the
Consound, or Knit-back, or Bone-set, and Blackwort of country
folk; and the old Symphytum of Dioscorides. It has derived
these names from the consolidating and vulnerary qualities
attributed to the plant, from confirmo, to strengthen together, or
the French, comfrie. This herb is of the Borage tribe, and is
conspicuous by its height of from one to two feet
its large rough
leaves, which provoke itching when handled, and its drooping
white or purple flowers growing on short stalks. Chemically, the
most important part of the plant is its mucilage. This contains
tannin, asparagin, sugar, and starch granules. The roots are sweet,
sticky, and without any odour. Quia tanta proestantia est, says
Pliny, ut si carnes duroe coquuntur conglutinet addita; unde
nomen!--and the roots be so glutinative that they will solder or
glew together meat that is chopt in pieces, seething in a pot, and
make it into one lump: the same bruysed, and lay'd in the manner
of a plaister, doth heale all fresh and green wounds. These roots
are very brittle, and the least bit of them will start growing afresh.
[121] The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm, and applied hot as a
poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in
any tender, inflamed or suppurating part. It was formerly applied
to raw indolent ulcers as a glutinous astringent, and most useful
vulnerary. Pauli recommended it for broken bones, and externally
for wounds of the nerves, tendons, and arteries. More recently
surgeons have declared that the powdered root (which, when
broken, is white within, and full of a slimy juice), if dissolved in
water to a mucilage, is far from contemptible for bleedings,
fractures, and luxations, whilst it hastens the callus of bones under
repair. Its strong decoction has been found very useful in Germany
for tanning leather. The leaves were formerly employed for giving
a flavour to cakes and panada.
A modern medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the root-stock with
spirit of wine; and ten drops of this should be taken three or four
times a day with a tablespoonful of cold water. French nurses treat
cracked nipples by applying a hollow section of the fresh root over
the sore caruncle; and a decoction of the root made by boiling
from two to four drachms in a pint of water, is given for bleedings
from the lungs or bladder.
The name Consound, owned by the Common Comfrey, was given
likewise to the daisy and the bugle, in the middle ages. It
joyeth, says Gerard, in watery ditches, in fat and fruitful
meadows. A solve concocted from the fresh herb will certainly
tend to promote the healing of bruised and broken parts,
suggesting as an appropriate motto for the salve box: Behold how
good and pleasant a thing it is to dwell together in unity! It is
like the precious ointment which ran down Aaron's beard. Some
foreknowledge [122] of the Comfrey perhaps inspired the Prophet
Isaiah to predict that after a time the heart should rejoice and the
bones flourish like a herb. The Poet Laureate tells of
This, the Consound,
Whereby the lungs are eased of their grief.
About a century ago, the Prickly Comfrey--a variety of our
Consound--was naturalised in this country from the Caucasus, and
has since proved itself amazingly productive to farmers, as, when
cultivated, it will grow six crops in the year; and the plant is both
preventive and curative of foot and mouth disease in cattle. It
bears flowers of a rich blue colour.
From our Common Comfrey a sort of glue is got in Angora, which
is used for spinning the famous fleeces of that country. Mr.
Cockayne relates that the locksman at Teddington informed him
how the bone of his little finger being broken, was grinding and
grunching so sadly for two months, that sometimes he felt quite
wrong in his head. One day he saw a doctor go by, and told him
about the distress. The doctor said: You see that Comfrey
growing there? Take a piece of its root, and champ it, and put it
about your finger, and wrap it up. The man did so, and in four
days his finger was well.
(see Pea and Bean). ... Belladonna
(see Night Shade). ... Bennet Herb (avens)
This, the Herba Benedicta, or Blessed Herb, or Avens (Geum Urbanum) is a very common plant of the Rose tribe, in our woods, hedges, and shady places. It has an erect hairy stem, red at the base, with terminal bright yellow drooping flowers. The ord... Betony
Few, if any, herbal plants have been more praised for their supposed curative virtues than the Wood Betony (Stachys Betonica), belonging to the order of Labiates. By the common people it is often called Bitny. The name Betonica is from the Celtic b... Bilberry (whortleberry Or Whinberry)
This fruit, which belongs to the Cranberry order of plants, grows abundantly throughout England in heathy [52] and mountainous districts. The small-branched shrub bears globular, wax-like flowers, and black berries, which are covered, when quite fre... Blackberry
This is the well-known fruit of the Common Bramble (Rubus fructicosus), which grows in every English hedgerow, and which belongs to the Rose order of plants. It has long been esteemed for its bark and leaves as a [54] capital astringent, these conta... Bluebell (wild Hyacinth)
This,--the Agraphis mutans,--of the Lily tribe--is so abundant in English woods and pastures, whilst so widely known, and popular with young and old, as to need no description. Hyacinth petals are marked in general with dark spots, resembling in the... Bog Bean (or Marsh-trefoil)
The Buck-bean, or Bog-bean, which is common enough in stagnant pools, and on our spongy bogs, is the most serviceable of all known herbal tonics. It may be easily recognised growing in water by its large leaves overtopping the surface, each being c... Borage
The Borage, with its gallant blue flower, is cultivated in our gardens as a pot herb, and is associated in our minds with bees and claret cup. It grows wild in abundance on open plains where the soil is favourable, and it has a long-established repu... Borage
(Borago officinalis, Linn.), a coarse, hardy, annual herb of the natural order Boraginaceae. Its popular name, derived from the generic, is supposed by some to have come from a corruption of cor, the heart, and ago, to affect, because of its former ... Broom
The Broom, or Link (Cytisus scoparius) is a leguminous shrub which is well known as growing abundantly on open places in our rural districts. The prefix cytisus is derived from the name of a Greek island where Broom abounded. It formerly bore the na... Bryony
English hedgerows exhibit Bryony of two distinct sorts--the white and the black--which differ much, the one from the other, as to medicinal properties, and which belong to separate orders of plants. The White Bryony is botanically a cucumber, being ... Buckthorn
The common Buckthorn grows in our woods and thickets, and used to be popularly known because of the purgative syrup made from its juice and berries. It bears dense branches of small green flowers, followed by the black berries, which purge violently... Burnet Saxifrage
(see Pimpernel). ... Buttercup
The most common Buttercup of our fields (Ranunculus bulbosis) needs no detailed description. It belongs to the order termed Ranunculaceoe, so-called from the Latin rana, a frog, because the several varieties of this genus grow in moist places where... Cabbage
The time has come, as the walrus said in Alice and the Looking Glass, to talk of many things-- Of shoes, and ships, and sealing-wax; of Cabbages, and kings. The Cabbage, which is fabled to have sprung from the tears of the Spartan lawg... Capsicum (cayenne)
The Capsicum, or Bird Pepper, or Guinea Pepper, is a native of tropical countries; but it has been cultivated throughout Great Britain as a stove plant for so many years (since the time of Gerard, 1636) as to have become practically indigenous. Mor... Caraway
The common Caraway is a herb of the umbelliferous order found growing on many waste places in England, though not a true native of Great Britain. Its well-known aromatic seeds should be always at hand in the cupboard of every British housewife. The ... Caraway
(Carum carui, Linn.), a biennial or an annual herb of the natural order Umbelliferae. Its names, both popular and botanical, are supposed to be derived from Caria, in Asia Minor, where the plant is believed first to have attracted attention. From ve... Carrot
Our garden Carrot, or Dauke, is a cultivated variety of the Dalucus sylvestris, or wild carrot, an umbelliferous plant, which groweth of itself in untoiled places, and is called philtron, because it serveth for love matters. This wild Carrot may be ... Catnip
or =cat mint= (Nepeta cataria, Linn.), a perennial herb of the natural order Labiatae. The popular name is in allusion to the attraction the plant has for cats. They not only eat it, but rub themselves upon it purring with delight. The generic name ... Celandine (greater And Lesser)
This latter flower is a conspicuous herald of spring, which is strikingly welcome to everyone living in the country throughout England, and a stranger to none. The Pilewort, or lesser Celandine, bespangles all our banks with its brilliant, glossy, g... Celery
The Parsleys are botanically named Selinon, and by some verbal accident, through the middle letter n in this word being changed into r, making it Seliron, or, in the Italian, Celeri, our Celery (which is a Parsley) obtained its title. It is a cultiv... Centaury
Of all the bitter appetising herbs which grow in our fields and hedgerows, and which serve as excellent simple tonics, the Centaury, particularly its white flowered variety, belonging to the Gentian order of [97] plants, is the most efficacious. It ... Chamomile
No Simple in the whole catalogue of herbal medicines is possessed of a quality more friendly and beneficial to the intestines than Chamomile flowers. This herb was well known to the Greeks, who thought it had an odour like that of apples, and theref... Cherry
The wild Cherry (Cerasus), which occurs of two distinct kinds, has by budding and grafting begotten most of our finest garden fruits of its genus. The name Cerasus was derived from Kerasous, a city of Cappadocia, where the fruit was plentiful. Acco... Chervil
(Scandix Cerefolium, Linn.), a southern Europe annual, with stems about 18 inches tall and bearing few divided leaves composed of oval, much-cut leaflets. The small white flowers, borne in umbels, are followed by long, pointed, black seeds with a co... Chervil Or Beaked Parsley
There is found, writes Parkinson, during June and July, in almost every English hedge, a certain plant called Choerophyllum, in show very like unto Hemlockes, of a good and pleasant smell and taste, which have caused us to term it 'Sweet Chervill.' ... Chestnuts (horse And Sweet)
Ever since 1633 the Horse Chestnut tree has grown and flourished in England, having been brought at first from the mountains of Northern Asia. For the most part it is rather known and admired for its wealth of shade, its large handsome floral spikes... Chickweed
Chickweed--called Alsine or Stellaria media, a floral star of middle magnitude--belongs to the Clove-pink order of plants, and, despite the most severe weather, grows with us all the year round, in waste places by the roadsides, and as a garden weed... Chives
(Allium Schoenoprasum, Linn.), a bulbous, onion-like perennial belonging to the Liliaceae. Naturally the plants form thick tufts of abundant, hollow, grasslike leaves from their little oval bulbs and mat of fibrous roots. The short flower stems be... Christmas Rose--black Hellebore
This well-known plant, a native of Southern Europe, and belonging to the Ranunculus order, is grown commonly in our gardens for the sake of its showy white flowers, conspicuous in winter, from December to February. The root has been famous since ti... Clary
(Salvia sclarea, Linn.), a perennial herb of the natural order Labiatae. The popular name is a corruption of the specific. In the discussion on sage will be found the significance of the generic name. Syria is said to be the original home of clary, ... Clover
In this country we possess about twenty species of the trefoil, or Clover, which is a plant so well known in its general features by its abundance in every field and on every grass plot, as not to need any detailed description. The special variety e... Club Moss
Though not generally thought worth more than a passing notice, or to possess any claims of a medicinal sort, yet the Club Moss, which is of common growth in Great Britain on heaths and hilly pastures, exerts by its spores very remarkable curative ef... Coltsfoot
The Coltsfoot, which grows abundantly throughout England in places of moist, heavy soil, especially along the sides of our raised railway banks, has been justly termed nature's best herb for the lungs, and her most eminent thoracic. Its seeds are su... Comfrey
The Comfrey of our river banks, and moist watery places, is the Consound, or Knit-back, or Bone-set, and Blackwort of country folk; and the old Symphytum of Dioscorides. It has derived these names from the consolidating and vulnerary qualities attr... Coriander
Coriander comfits, sold by the confectioner as admirably warming to the stomach, and corrective of flatulence, consist of small aromatic seeds coated with white sugar. These are produced by the Coriander, an umbelliferous herb cultivated in England ... Coriander
(Coriandrum sativum, Linn.), "a plant of little beauty and of easiest culture," is a hardy annual herb of the natural order Umbelliferae. The popular name is derived from the generic, which comes from the ancient Greek Koris, a kind of bug, in allus... Cowslip
Our English pastures and meadows, especially where the soil is of blue lias clay, become brilliantly gay, with gaudy cowslips drest, quite early in the spring. But it is a mistake to suppose that these flowers are a favourite food with cows, who, in... Cresses
The Cress of the herbalist is a noun of multitude: it comprises several sorts, differing in kind but possessing the common properties of wholesomeness and pungency. Here order in variety we see; and here, though all things differ, all agree. The nam... Culinary Herbs
In these days of jaded appetites, condiments and canned goods, how fondly we turn from the dreary monotony of the "dainty" menu to the memory of the satisfying dishes of our mothers! What made us, like Oliver Twist, ask for more? Were those flavor... Culinary Herbs Defined
The common Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis) is a small grey-green plant, bearing well known little flowers, rose coloured, and tipped with purple, whilst standing erect in every cornfield, vineyard, or such-like manured place throughout Great Britain....