The young shoots blanched
were accounted equal to asparagus, and were made use of in a similar
manner.
504. HEATH. Erica vulgaris.--Formerly the young tops are said to have
been used alone to brew a kind of ale; and even now, I am informed, the
inhabitants of Isla and Jura (two islands on the coast of Scotland)
continue to brew a very potable liquor, by mixing two-thirds of the tops
of heath with one of malt.--Lightfoot's Fl. Scot.
505. HOPS. Humulus Lupulus.--Independently of the great use of hops in
making beer, and for medicinal uses, where the plant grows wild, it
affords the neighbours a dainty in the spring months. The young shoots,
called hop-tops, when boiled, are equal in flavour to asparagus, and are
eagerly sought after for that purpose.
506. LADIES-SMOCK. Cardamine pratensis.--This is good as a salad herb.
507. LAVER. Fucus esculentus.--This is collected by sailors and people
along the sea-coasts; is eaten both raw and boiled, and esteemed and
excellent antiscorbutic. The leaves of this Fucus are very sweet, and,
when washed and hanged up to dry, will exude a substance like that of
sugar.
508. MAPLE. Acer Pseudo-platanus.--By tapping this tree it yields a
liquor not unlike that of the birch-tree, from which the Americans make
a sugar, and the Highlanders sometimes an agreeable and wholesome wine.
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