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Small Burnet Saxifrage

Description. This has a round, slender root, divided into several reddish branches, among which are sometimes found certain red grains, which they call wild cochineal, and which are used in dyeing. The stalks are red, angular, and branched; and the leaves are oblong or roundish, dentated on the edges, and placed by pairs on the ribs. The flowers grow on the ends of the stalks, in round heads, and consist of a single petal, divided into four parts, in the form of a rose, of a purple colour: in the middle there is a tuft of long stamina; the flowers are of two sorts, the one barren, that are furnished with stamina, and the other fruitful, that have a pistil. This is succeeded by a quadrangular fruit, generally pointed at both ends, of an ash-colour when ripe, containing oblong, slender, reddish brown seeds, with an astringent and somewhat bitter taste.

Place. In its wild state it very much resembles the true saxifrage, for which it is mistaken by many, and also sold for it by the herb-women. It is cultivated in gardens.

Time. It flowers about the end of June, and the seed is ripe about August. Government and virtues. Like the former, it is under the dominion of the Moon. The whole plant is of a binding nature; the leaves are sometimes put into wine to give it an agreeable flavour, and the young shoots are a good ingredient in salads. Saxifrage is a cordial and promoter of sweat. The root dried and powdered, stops purgings: and a strong decoction of it, or the juice of the leaves, is good for the same purposes. In the composition of the Syrupus Althae it is generally used instead of the great burnet saxifrage.