100 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
the church dignitaries had their share of gout, but I would
not be so bold as to give any reason as to its cause !
DAUCUS CAROTA. The wild carrot is a very troublesome
weed of fields and waste places. It has hooked spines to the
fruits and can be distinguished from the sea carrot D. gum-
mifer, where the fruits are not hooked, but dilated and fused
at the base. Vegetable carrots were first introduced into
England in 1558 by the Dutch. Parkinson, writing about
1629, stated that his "day ladies" wore carrot leaves in their
hair in place of feathers. About this time a cult was started
in London of growing carrot crowns in water for winter
decoration.
SIUM S1SAEUM. The Skirret has been cultivated in
this country since 1548, and is a native of China. The roots
are composed of small fleshy tubers which are boiled and
eaten.
PEUCEDANUM SATIVUM. The wild parsnip has the
appearance of the garden variety except that it has not the
fleshy tubers. Parsnips have been known from early times,
and Pliny states that the Emperor Tiberius had them
brought from the banks of the Rhine to Rome. In addition
to their use as a vegetable, the roots can be made into wine
and also into a kind of marmalade preserve.
APIUM GRAVEOLENS. The wild celery is poisonous,
but much has been done to improve it by horticulture to give
us the edible form A. dulce. The wild plant is very rank
and coarse, but has the same scent and appearance as the
garden species. There are several varieties cultivated, and
on the Continent the turnip-rooted celery, or Celenac, is
favoured on account of it being much hardier: also it can be
stored for use much later m the Spring.
HERACLEUM SPHONDYLIUM. Hogweed. The
generic name, after the God Hercules, refers to the great
height and strength of some species, especially when one
thinks of H. mantegazzianum, a native of Siberia, which
grows to 10-15 feet or more. The British species was once
used for feeding pigs, and some of the foreign plants have
other uses. The roots of H. lanatum are eaten in North
America, and H. pubescens, found in the Caucasus, yields
a sweet and aromatic juice.