is the St. John’s-wort, and the maiden’s fate is favorably forecast by the healthy growth and successful blossoming of the plant which she has accepted as typical of her future.
In early times poets and physicians alike extolled its properties. An ointment was made of its blossoms, and one of its early names was “balm-of-the-warrior’s-wound.” It was considered so efficacious a remedy for melancholia that it was termed “fuga dæmonum.” Very possibly this name gave rise to the general idea that it was powerful in dispelling evil spirits.
St. Andrew’s Cross.
Ascyrum Crux-Andreæ. St. John’s-wort Family.
Stem.—Low, branched. Leaves.—Opposite, narrowly oblong, black-dotted. Flowers.—Light-yellow. Calyx.—Of four sepals, the two outer broad and leaf-like, the inner much smaller. Corolla.—Of four narrowly oblong petals. Stamens.—Numerous. Pistil.—One, with two short styles.
From July till September these flowers may be found in the pine-barrens of New Jersey and farther south and westward, and on the island of Nantucket as well.
Common Mullein.
Verbascum Thapsus. Figwort Family.
Stem.—Tall and stout, from three to five feet high. Leaves.—Oblong, woolly. Flowers.—In a long dense spike. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Yellow, with five slightly unequal rounded lobes. Stamens.—Ten, the three upper with white wool on their filaments. Pistil.—One.
PLATE LI
COMMON MULLEIN.—V. Thapsus.
The common mullein is a native of the island of Thapsos, from which it takes its specific name. It was probably brought to this country from Europe by the early colonists, notwithstanding the title of “American velvet plant,” which it is rumored to bear in England. The Romans called it “candelaria,” from their custom of dipping the long dried stalk in suet and using it as a funeral torch, and the Greeks utilized the leaves for lamp-wicks. In more modern times they have served as a remedy for the pulmonary complaints of men and beasts alike, “mullein tea” being greatly esteemed by country people. Its especial efficacy with cattle has earned the plant its name of “bullocks’ lungwort.”