Cross-wort.
Botanical name:
Cruciata.
A VERY pretty wild plant, but not very common: it grows a foot and a half high. The stalks are square, hairy, weak, and of a pale green. The leaves are broad and short; they stand four at every joint, star-fashioned, upon the stalk. The flowers are little and yellow; they stand in clusters round the stalk, at the joints, rising from the insertion of the leaves. It is to be found in dry places.
The whole plant is to be gathered when beginning to flower, and dried. A strong decoction of it is a good restringent. and styptic; it stops purgings, even when there are bloody stools; and overflowings of the menses.
