Gold of Pleasure.

Botanical name: 

Plate 24. Myagrum.

A very pretty plant, common in many parts of England, and known at sight by the vast quantity of seed-vessels, it is two feet high: the stalk is round, thick, firm, upright, and toward the top has a great many branches, all standing upright. The leaves stand irregularly, and are not numerous, they are long, not very broad, and of a pale green; they are indented about the edges, and surround the stalk at the base; the flowers are little and white; the seed-vessels are short and roundish, and they stand in vast quantities, forming a kind of spikes all the way up the tops of the branches, with few flowers at the summit.

The fresh tops of the plant are to be used before it is run to seed. An infusion of them sweetened with honey, is excellent for sore throats, and ulcerations of the month. The seeds yield a great quantity of oil on pressing, and they are so plentiful, that it might seem worth while to cultivate the plant for them; the oil is pleasant and well tasted.


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