Masterwort.
Botanical name:
Imperitoria.
A plant of no beauty, kept in our gardens for its virtue. It grows two feet high. The stalks are round, striated, hollowed, upright, not very strong. The leaves are each composed of three smaller: they are of a dark green colour, blunt at the points, and indented about the edges. The flowers are small and white: they stand in little umbels at the tops of the branches. The roots are long, brown, divided, of a strong smell, and a sharp aromatic taste.
The root is the part used: it is good in fevers, disorders of the head, and of the stomach and bowels. It is best taken up fresh, and given in a light infusion: it promotes sweat, and is a better medicine for that purpose, than most of the foreign roots kept by druggists.
