HORSERADISH (Ger., Meerrettig ; Fr., raifort = racine forte, cran de Bretagne-, Swed., Peppar-rot-, Russ., ehren), Cochlearia Armoracia, L., a perennial plant of the natural order Cruciferoe and tribe Alyssineoe, having radical leaves on long stalks, ovate or oval-oblong, 4 to 6 inches broad, about a foot in length, subcoriaceous, crenate or serrate, and coarsely veined; stem-leaves short-stalked or sessile, elongate, and tapering to their attachment, the lower ones often deeply toothed; flowers, which appear in May and June, ∣-inch in width, in flat-topped panicles, with sepals purplish, and petals white; and fruit a small silicula, which in the climate of England seldom bears seed. The horseradish is indigenous to eastern Europe. Into western Europe and Great Britain, where it is to be met with on waste ground, it was probably introduced from Russia (De Candolle, Géogr. Botan., ii. 654, 1855). It was wild in various parts of England in Gerard’s time. The root, the armoraciae radix of pharmacy, is ∣ to 2 inches or more in diameter, and commonly a foot, sometimes 3 feet in length; the upper part is enlarged into a crown, which is annulated with the scars of fallen leaves; and from the numerous irregular lateral branches are produced vertical stolons, and also adventitious buds, which latter render the plant very difficult of extirpation. From the root of Aconite {g. v., vol. i. p. 98), which has occasionally been mistaken for it, horseradish root differs in being more or less cylindrical from a little below the crown, and in its pale yellowish (or brownish) white hue externally, acrid and penetrating odour when scraped or bruised, and pungent and either sweetish or bitter taste (see Bentley, Pharm. Journ,, 1st ser., xv. 449, 1856). The fresh root yields on ...