Description. Shepherd's Rod grows with a fleshy, thick, and somewhat hairy stock. The bottom leaves are large and rough, and grow with thick foot-stalks, from whence arise two lesser leaves. The upper leaves have a beautiful appearance; they are of a fine green, and deeply scrated. The flowers are of a gold yellow, and are followed by heads of a green and purple colour, sluck round with prickles of a very tenacious substance. In some counties they call it Small Wild Teazle, and sometimes it is found with white flowers.
Place. It is a biennial, not unfrequently found wild in hedges.
Time. It flowers in August.
Government and virtues. It is a plant of Mars, and, like the Teazle, is cultivated in many places for the use of clothiers, who employ the heads to raise the knap on woollen cloths. The flowers appear in June, and the heads ripen late in autumn. The root is bitter, and given in a strong infusion, strengthens the stomach, and creates an appetite: it is also good against obstructions of the liver, and the jaundice. Many people have an opinion, that the water contained in the bason formed by the leaves is a good cosmetic, but there is no real foundation for such a conjecture.