Fluellin.

Plate 21. Elatine.

A low plant frequent in corn-fields, and conspicuous for its pretty, though small, flower. The stalks are five or six inches long, round, hairy, weak, and trailing upon the ground. The leaves are little, hairy, rounded, and placed irregularly. The flowers are very small, but they are variegated with purple and yellow, both colours very bright; they have a heel behind, and each stands upon a little hairy foot-stalk, arising from the bosom of the leaf.

There is another kind, the leaves of which have two ears at their base; in other respects they are the same, and they have the same virtues. The juice of either is cooling and astringent. It is given by the country people in the bloody flux and overflowing of the menses.


The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill.