Cookit Gallery

A plant long associated with sorcery. From Anglo Saxon times it was used to preserve youth and give protection from lightening and plague. On Midsummers Eve it was meant to produce a coal under its roots that would protect anyone who dug it up and kept it safe. It has also been used instead of hops to provide the bitter taste in beer and to fumigate the rooms of the sick as it gives off a slight aroma. It grows on road verges, wasteland and in fields. It flowers July to September. Picture taken 25th August near Cardington, Bedfordshire.