Yellow Water Flag

This plant should not be allowed to grow where cattle feed. It grows like the blue flower-de-luce, but has longer and narrower green leaves, jointed together. The stalk often grows as high, bearing small yellow flowers, shaped like the flower-dealuce, with three falling leaves, and other three arched, which cover their bottoms; but instead of the three upright leaves, as the flower-de-luce has, this has only three short pieces standing in their places, after which succeed three-square heads, containing large flat seed.

The root is long and slender, of a pale brownish colour, very harsh in taste. It usually grows in watery ditches, ponds, lakes, etcetera.

The root of the water flag is very astringent, cooling, and drying, and is good for fluxes, as bleeding at the mouth, nose, or other parts, bloody flux, and the immoderate flux of women's courses. The distilled water of the whole herb, flowers and roots, is a sovereign remedy for watery eyes, to be dropped into them, or to have cloths or sponges wetted therein, and applied to the forehead.

The said water fomented on swellings, and inflammations of female breasts, upon cankers also, and spreading ulcers. It cures foul ulcers in the privities; but an ointment made of the flowers is better for those external applications.