Personality of plants

PLANT MYTHOLOGY
sure that the Herb-Bennett, when kept in a
house, takes its owners out from under the
devil's influence!. Thistle is often used for
the same purpose. The Greeks used to place
a Laurel bough over their doors to ward
off evil. There is an English Fungus
called Lycoperdon, or Puff-Ball, which pro-
duces a mass of dusty spores not unlike snuff.
The annoyance experienced by people in the
vicinity of the bursting pods has led to the
plant being called "Devil's Snuff-Box." Chil-
dren use it for various amusing pranks.
Closely allied to the devil-plants are the
witch-plants, vegetable favourites of his human
emissaries. The Elder is supposed to be a fre-
quent meeting-place of these sinister hags;
under its branches they bury their satanic off-
spring.
The witches employ the deadly Night-Shade
in their vile concoctions. It is reputed to spring
from the foam of the vicious, many-headed dog
which guards the infernal regions. The Vervain
and the Rue are also ingredients. The fact that
the former was at one time sacred to Thor, and
was also used in the rituals of the Druids, is a
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