Burnet. Mill

Poterium sanguisorba.

Burnet is a hardy, perennial plant, indigenous to England, where it is found on dry, upland, chalky soils. When fully developed, it is from a foot and a half to two feet in height. The leaves proceeding directly from the root are produced on long stems, and are composed of from eleven to fifteen smaller leaves, which are of an oval form, regularly toothed, and generally, but not uniformly, smooth. The branches, which are somewhat numerous, terminate in long, slender stems, each of which produces an oval or roundish bunch of purplish-red, fertile and infertile flowers. The fertile flowers produce two seeds each, which ripen in August or September. These are oblong, four-sided, of a yellowish color, and retain their vitality two years. Thirty-five hundred are contained in an ounce.

Sowing and Culture.—The plant is easily propagated by seeds, which may be sown either in autumn or spring. Sow in drills ten inches apart, half or three-fourths of an inch deep; and thin, while the plants are young, to six or eight inches in the row. If the seeds are allowed to scatter from the plants in autumn, young seedlings will come up plentifully in the following spring, and may be transplanted to the distances before directed. In dry soil, the plants will continue for many years; requiring no further care than to be occasionally hoed, and kept free from weeds. It may also be propagated by dividing the roots; but, as it is easily grown from seeds, this method is not generally practised.

Use.—The leaves have a warm, piquant taste, and, when bruised, resemble cucumbers in odor. They are sometimes used as salad, and occasionally form an ingredient in soups. The roots, after being dried and pulverized, are employed in cases of internal hemorrhage.

It is very little used in this country, and rarely seen in gardens.

Varieties.—There are three varieties; the distinctions, however, being neither permanent nor important.

Hairy-Leaved Burnet.

Leaves and stems comparatively rough or hairy; in other respects, similar to the Smooth-leaved. Either of the varieties may be propagated by dividing the roots.

Large-Seeded Burnet.

This, like the others, is a sub-variety, and probably but a seminal variation.

Smooth-Leaved Burnet.

Leaves and stems of the plant comparatively smooth, but differing in no other particular from the Hairy-leaved. Seeds from this variety would probably produce plants answering to both descriptions.