Evening star., 1948-10-16
This and That
BIZ Charles z. Trdce,Dell

correspondent wants an article on the
plant, the Sweet Woodruff ~
1t is scarcely the time Of year for it, but
here goes:
Master Of the Woods. some call it; Asperula
odorata, others say, scientifically
Any way you say it. Sweet Woodruff is .
nice plant to have around There Is nothing
snowy about it. but 1t pleases many minds
and gardening hearts.
Plant 1t next May, and thereafter watch 1t
spread among the evergreens dt likes q shady
place..
It does this by means Of runners, new plants
coming up farther and farther back beneath
the spruce. But propagation is both by seeds
and runners.
1t is d pretty plant.
The scientific name, Asperula odorata, is
pleasant to the ear and goes trippingly on the
tongue.
Sweet Woodruff. the most common name
speaks for itself
It belongs to the class of herbs. Sometimes
home gardeners shy away from herbs, as SUCH
They are slightly afraid Of them, as If some
how hard to grow.
Nonsense. herb is just plant, after all
Every garden has some herbs, whether called
so or not. Some Of the most popular annual
plants are herbs.
Herbs are nothing to shy from.
**s*
Certainly Sweet Woodruff Is Just nice little
plant to fill In with, in spot where few other
things will grow.
The plant is about foot high, with small
white flowers In season. There Is nothing
much about the flowers to excite attention.
It is the leaf that makes the plant
The leaf, when dried, is family aromatic.
When infused In hot water, 1t makes beverage
which has been lauded in herbal literature for
centuries. but which will strike the modern
taste. brought up on coffee, as very fiat.
1t is said that old Teutonic warriors carried
small bags Of the leaves as a sort Of charm In
battle.
If so, Teutonic warriors bravely got over that
old superstition.
According to the books, Sweet Woodruff
makes an exhilerating and refreshing tea"
but today's drinker will have to have a very
good imagination to find anything exhilerating
about It,
A little lemon Juice improves 1t great DEAL
as with most herb teas.
Woodruff tea was supposed to be good for
indigestion, and to induce perspiration in colds
The hot water Is the "active ingredient" in
both cases.
One doesn't need be q medical herbalist to
enjoy planting Sweet Woodruff.
Good plants should be secured in middle
May and set out In shady place.
One Of the best points about it Is that 1t
may be planted beneath evergreens where there
often Is a rather bare appearance. Asperula
makes a really good ground cover
A ground cover with personality.
This is a smiling plant. Leaves and stems,
when picked and carefully dried, give forth q
fresh fragrance for long time.
Maybe there are some old-faSflioned persons
left who put lavender in linen closets. They
might try Sweet woodruff, instead, for a
change; It is a clean plant, with fresh fra
GRANGE, just slightly weedy in character, but
so are many herbs.
Plant tissue is plant tissue wherever you
nnd it.
Sweet Woodruff is about average, when made
into a tea. The best of these old-fashioned
teas to most modern tastes. Is the one made
with the flowers of the linden tree.
The French still are much interested in such
teas, but English-speaking peoples not 50
much so.
Indifference to them, perhaps comes down
from, the Colonial days. when Chinese tea was
expensive and thousands of pepole had to
make do" with what they could find in the
fields and forests.
They drank them, all right, but they didn't
like them. Perhaps 1t Is no wonder that when
tea and coffee became cheap, they turned to
them with such avidity.