“Belladonna.”
“Belladonna; good. I know that weed. I have often found it near the mill, in shady places. Who would believe those pretty cherries held such a frightful poison.”
Here André asked: “What does the word belladonna mean?”
“It is an Italian word meaning fine lady. Formerly, it seems, ladies used the juice of this plant to keep their complexion white.”
“That is a property that does not concern our brown skin. What concerns us is this confounded berry which may tempt our children.”
“Are not our herds in danger when this weed grows in pastures?” Antoine next inquired.
“It is very seldom that animals touch poisonous plants; they avoid browsing what might harm them, warned by the odor, and above all by instinct.
“This other plant with large leaves, whose flowers, red on the outside and spotted on the inside with white and purple, are arranged in a long and magnificent cluster almost as high as a man, is called digitalis. The flowers have the form of long, tun-bellied bells, or rather of glove-fingers; therefore it is called by different names, all referring to this peculiarity.”
Fox-glove