THE UMBELLIFERS. 10

...and is found on other mountains. The 4th species is from the American Islands, brought to us from Canada. The 5th, or Goutweed podagraria: Aegopodium podagraria, a plant often used in the Middle Ages to treat gout, grows in damp places and along the base of hedges. They all flower at the beginning of summer and produce seed shortly after. They do not complete their seeds until the second, or sometimes the third year after sowing; however, after the seed has matured, all of them perish completely except for the long-lived Goutweed.

Names.

The 1st is called Cultivated Angelica original: "Angelica sativa" by Caspar Bauhin, Mattioli, Tragus, and Parkinson; Scented Angelica original: "odorata" by Camerarius; and Greater Angelica original: "major" by Lobel and Dodoens. The 2nd is the Greater Wild Angelica original: "sylvestris major" of Caspar Bauhin, and simply Wild Angelica original: "sylvestris" by Tragus, Mattioli, Fuchs, and Dodoens. The 3rd is the Mountain Wild Angelica or Archangelica original: "Angelica montana, sylvestris, seu Archangelica" of Clusius and Dodoens. The 4th is the Shining Canadian Angelica original: "Canadensis, lucida" of Cornut. The 5th is the Lesser Wild or Erratic Angelica original: "sylvestris minor, seu erratica" of Caspar Bauhin, the Goutweed original: "podagraria" of Lobel and Pena, and the Erratic Angelica original: "erratica" of Thal.

Temperament & powers.

Angelica is hot and dry; it draws out poison, stirs the blood original: "sanguinem dejicit," likely referring to stimulating menstrual flow or purging humors, and warms the body. If someone is seized by a sudden plague or immoderate sweating, they should take half a dram represented by the symbol ʒ β of Angelica root reduced to powder, mixed with one dram ʒ j of Theriac Theriaca: a famous ancient treacle or "universal antidote" made of dozens of ingredients, used against poisons and infectious diseases in three or four spoonfuls of distilled Angelica root water; they should drink this, then retire to bed and cover themselves well, fasting for at least three hours, and they shall find relief. The root, macerated in vinegar and smelled during a time of plague—or even occasionally drinking the vinegar with the root on an empty stomach—preserves one from the plague. Its distilled water and powdered root are beneficial for all internal ailments; finally, its seed is of the highest efficacy along with the root: see Tragus, and consult Johann Bauhin, page 142 of Part 2, Volume 3, and page 143 of the same volume. The Cultivated, Wild, Canadian, and Mountain Archangelica, after they have finished flowering and brought their seed to maturity—which, as I said above, usually happens in the second or third year—rot away into the earth and perish totally; that is, the stalks, roots, and all parts die completely, renewing themselves from the seed falling anew into the ground as the year turns.

Masterwort original: "Imperatoria". So named because of the "imperial" powers with which it is gifted. It has leaves much larger than those of Angelica, usually joined in threes, wrinkled and somewhat rough; each of these is again distributed into three serrated segments or lobes, sometimes more lightly and other times more deeply divided. The stalks reach a height of barely two or at most three feet. They bear small white flowers in an umbel umbel: a flower cluster where stalks spring from a common center like the ribs of an umbrella (the petals of which fall off easily). The seed is white, somewhat broad, compressed, with sunken streaks, and almost like chaff, often not well-nourished; this happens because of the plant's excessive capacity for spreading through its roots. Indeed, the roots are wrinkled and gifted with creeping lateral fibers by which they propagate themselves. When pulled from the top of the earth, the flesh is white and aromatic, nipping the tongue and warming the mouth. Therefore, it must be concluded that the true and genuine Masterwort is a species of Angelica, based on its scent, flavor, and consequently, its powers.

Location & time.

Masterwort grows in the mountains of Italy, France, and Germany. It completes its seeds toward the end of summer, but they are rarely well-nourished or filled with pulp. Consequently, they are sterile for the reason mentioned above here, and in the deduction regarding Goutweed.

Names.

It is called Greater Masterwort original: "Imperatoria major" by Caspar Bauhin; Masterwort original: "Imperatoria" by Mattioli, Tabernaemontanus, and Gerard; Common Masterwort or Astrantia original: "imperatoria seu astrantia vulgaris" by Parkinson; Magistrantia by Camerarius; and Herba Rena by Cesalpino.

Temperament & powers.

Masterwort is hot and dry in the third degree; it provokes the menses and urine, and expels stillborn fetuses. It wonderfully disperses gas in the uterus and intestines, as well as in the belly; for this reason, it is extremely useful for the pains of colic and griping of the stomach. For other matters, consult Johann Bauhin, pages 138 and 139, Volume 3, Part 2.

Master-wort original: "Astrantia". This is an Umbelliferous plant and possesses all the conditions of a properly-defined Umbel; therefore, it was carelessly placed with the Hellebores by the most learned Caspar Bauhin in his Pinax (with other authors writing before him agreeing). See the hallucinations of Caspar Bauhin in his Pinax, pages 377 and 370, and our own Botanical Preludes. The leaves of this plant are commonly divided into five...