Tarragon.

Botanical name: 

Dracunculus.

A common plant in our gardens. It is two feet high. The stalk is round, upright, firm, and green; the leaves are very numerous, and stand irregularly. They are longish and very narrow, and of a deep green colour; the flowers are little and greenish, in form like those of wormwood: they stand in spikes at the tops of the stalks. The whole plant has a strong smell, somewhat like fennel.

An infusion of the fresh tops works by urine, and gently promotes the menses.


The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill.