Kidney Wort.
Umbilicus veneris.
A very singular plant, which grows on old walls in some parts of England. It is eight inches high, and is distinguished at sight by a cluster of round leaves which grow about the stalk. The root is roundish, and its fibres grow from the bottom. The leaves stand on longish and thick foot-stalks, which are, except in the lowest of all, inserted not at the edges of the leaf, but in the middle: these are round, thick, fleshy, and indented about the edges. The stalk which bears the flowers is round, thick, and, towards the top, divided into two or three branches; on these grow the flowers, in a kind of spikes: they are oblong, hollowish, and of a greenish white colour.
The leaves are the part used. Externally, they are cooling, and good against pains. They are applied bruised to the piles, with great success. The juice of them, taken inwardly, operates by urine, and is excellent against stranguries, and good in the gravel, and inflammations of the liver and spleen.
