Gladwyn.
Xyris sive spatula foetida.
A wild plant of the iris kind, of no great beauty, but not without its virtues. The root creeps about the surface, like that of the common flower de luce. The leaves are a foot long, narrow, and sharp-pointed, and of a strong and very peculiar smell. The stalks are round, firm, upright, and of a bluish green. The flowers are like those of the common flower de luce, but smaller, and of a very dull colour. There is a little purple in the upper part of the flower, and there are some veins and streaks in the lower; but the rest is of a dull dead hue, between grey and brown, and they have a faint and bad smell.
The juice of the root promotes urine, and the menses. The dried root, in powder or infusion, is good against all hysteric disorders, faintings, and pains. Outwardly, the fresh root is said to be an excellent remedy for scrophulous swellings; but this we must take upon trust.
