Leek.
Botanical name:
Porrum.
A common plant in our kitchen gardens. It grows three feet high; the stalk is round, green, and thick; the leaves are large, long, and of a deep green, and the flowers grow in a round cluster at the top of the stalk; they are of a purplish colour, with a tinge of green; the root is white, oblong, thick, and roundish, with fibres at the bottom.
An infusion of the roots of leeks made in water, and boiled into a syrup with honey, is good against asthmas, coughs, and obstructions in the breast and lungs. It answers the same purposes with syrup of garlic, but it will agree with some who cannot bear that medicine.
