Skirret.
Botanical name:
Sisarum.
A plant kept in our kitchen gardens. It grows three or four feet high. The stalk is round, hollow, striated, and somewhat branched: the leaves are each composed of three or five smaller, two or four set opposite and one at the end; they are oblong, serrated at the edges, and sharp pointed; the end leaf is longer than the others. The flowers are little: they stand in round clusters on the tops of the branches. The root is of a singular form: it is composed of several long parts like carrots. They are of a good taste, and some people eat them at their tables.
A decoction of them works by urine, and is good against the gravel. The roots boiled in milk, are an excellent restorative to people who have suffered long illnesses.
