So fragrant is the camomile plant, that the places where it grows wild, on open gravelly commons, may easily be discovered by the somewhat strawberry-like perfume which is emitted by treading on them. This quality alone has sometimes induced the cultivation of camomile for a green walk in gardens. 216. _TARRAGON_ (Artemisia dracunculus) _is a hardy plant of the wormwood tribe, which grows wild in India and the southern parts of Europe, and is cultivated with us in gardens for culinary uses._ _It has a somewhat shrubby stem; smooth, spear-shaped, leaves tapering at each end; and flowers roundish, erect, and on footstalks._ This is a hot and bitter vegetable, which is sometimes eaten with lettuces, or other salad herbs: and sometimes used as an ingredient in soup. Its _seeds_ are pungent; and may be advantageously substituted for the more costly spices obtained from the Indies. The Indians frequently eat the _leaves_ of the tarragon plant with bread. The sauce called _tarragon vinegar_ is made by infusing for fourteen days, one pound of the leaves of tarragon, gathered a short time before the flowers appear, in one gallon of the best vinegar: straining this through a flannel bag, and fining it by means of a little isinglass. A distilled water is sometimes prepared from the leaves of tarragon. FRUSTRANEA. 217. _The JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE is a somewhat potatoe-shaped root, produced by a species of sunflower_ (Helianthus tuberosus) _which grows wild in several parts of South America._ _This plant bears single stalks, which are frequently eight or nine feet high, and yellow flowers, much smaller than those of the common sunflower._ So extremely productive are these valuable roots, that betwixt seventy and eighty tons' weight of them are said to have been obtained, in one season, from a single acre of ground. They succeed in almost any soil; and, when once planted, will continue to flourish in the same place, without requiring either much manure, or much attention to the culture. The season in which they are dug up for use is from about the middle of September till November; when they are in greatest perfection. After that they may be preserved in sand, or under cover, for the winter. The roots are generally eaten plain boiled; but they are sometimes served to table with white fricassee-sauce, and in other ways. Their flavour is so nearly like that of the common artichoke, that it is difficult to distinguish them from each other. We are informed that Jerusalem artichokes are a valuable food for hogs and store pigs; and that if washed, cut, and ground in a mill, similar to an apple-mill, they may also be given to horses. 218. _The COMMON or ANNUAL SUNFLOWER_ (Helianthus annuus) _is a Peruvian plant, with large yellow flowers, that is well known in our gardens._