Camomile
or CHAMOMILE, a genus of composite. The species are annual and perennial herbs, all palæarctic. The most important species of the genus is Anthemis nobilis, which has long been known for the medicinal virtues of an infusion of its flowers (Flores Anthemidis) as a bitter stomachic and tonic. The plant is chiefly cultivated at Mitcham, Surrey, England, and at Kieritsch and elsewhere in Saxony. The largest, whitest, and most completely double flowers are most esteemed. The other British species are mere weeds; one of them, called stinking camomile (A. cotula), is so acrid as to blister the fingers. But the flowers of the Dyer's Camomile (A. tinctoria), a common on the Continent, yield a beautiful dye.
Wild camomile (matricaria chamomilla) is the common camomile of German writers. A cultivated variety of M. Parthenium (Feverfew) has also to be distinguished.