WOODRUFF.
Concerning the Sweet Woodruff (_Asperula odorata_), it is a favourite little plant growing commonly in our woods and gardens, with a pleasant smell which, like the good deeds of the worthiest persons, delights by its fragrance most after death. This herb is of the Rubiaceous order, and gets its botanical name from the Latin _asper_, rough, in allusion to the rough leaves possessed by its species.
It may be readily recognised by its small white flowers set on a slender stalk, with narrow leaves growing round it in successive whorls, just as in the Cleaver (Goosegrass), which belongs to the same order.
The name Woodruffe has been whimsically spelt Woodderowffe, thus:–
Double U, double O, double D, E R, O, double U, double F, E.
Its terminal syllable, “ruff,” is derived from _rofe_, a wheel,–with the diminutive _rouelle_, a little wheel or rowel, like that of an ancient spur,–which the verticillate leaves of this herb closely resemble. They serve to remind us also of good Queen Bess, and of the high, starched, old-fashioned ruff which she is shown to wear [609] in her portraits. Therefore, the plant is known as Woodrowel.
When freshly gathered, it has but little odour, but when dried it exhales a delightful and lasting aroma, like the scent of meadow grass, or of peach blossoms.
