Home1797 Edition

MYAGRUM

Volume 12 · 197 words · 1797 Edition

Gold of Pleasure, in botany: *Myagrum*. A genus of the filiculosa order, belonging to the tradynania class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, *Siliqueae*. The filicula is terminated by an oblong style; the cell generally monospermous. There are five species; but the only remarkable one is the sativum, which grows naturally in corn-fields in the south of France and Italy, and also in some parts of Britain. It is an annual plant, with an upright stalk a foot and an half high, sending out two or four side-branches, which grow erect; the flowers grow in loose spikes at the end of the branches, standing upon short footstalks an inch long; they are composed of four small yellowish petals, placed in form of a cross; these are succeeded by oval capsules, which are bordered and crowned at the top with the style of the flower, having two cells filled with red seeds—This is cultivated in Germany for the sake of the expressed oil of the seeds, which the inhabitants use for medicinal, culinary, and economical purposes. The seeds are a favourite food with geese. Horses, goats, sheep, and cows, eat the plant.