Jack by the Hedge.

Botanical name: 

Plate 29. Alliaria.

A spring plant of a conspicuous figure, frequent in our hedges. The stalk is round, thick, firm, upright, and of a pale green, three feet in height, and very straight. The leaves are large, broad, and short, of a figure approaching to roundish, but somewhat pointed at the ends, and notched at the edges; they are of a pale yellowish green colour, and stand on long foot-stalks. The flowers are little and white; they stand ten or a dozen together, at the tops of the branches, and are followed by long pods.

The fresh leaves eaten as salad work by urine powerfully, and are recommended in dropsies. The juice of them boiled into a syrup with honey, is good to break tough phlegm, and to cure coughs and hoarsenesses.


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