The Billberry Bush.
Botanical name:
Vaccinia nigra.
A LITTLE tough shrubby plant, common in our boggy woods, and upon wet heaths. The stalks are tough, angular, and green; the leaves are small; they stand singly, not in pairs, and are broad, short, and indented about the edges. The flowers are small but pretty, their colour is a faint red, and they are hollow like a cup. The berries are as large as the biggest pea, they are of a blackish colour, and of a pleasant taste.
A syrup made of the juice of billberries, when not over ripe, is cooling and binding; it is a pleasant and gentle medicine for women whose menses are apt to be too redundant, taken for a week before the time.
