Description of Rootstock — When removed from the earth the rootstock of Crane's-bill is about 2 to 4 inches long, thick, with numerous branches bearing the young buds for next season's growth and scars showing the remains of stems of previous years, brown outside, white and fleshy internally, and with several stout roots. When dry, the rootstock turns a darker brown, is finely wrinkled externally, and has a rough spiny appearance, caused by the shrinking of the buds and branches and the numerous stem scars with which the root is studded. Internally it is of a somewhat purplish color. Crane's-bill root is without odor and the taste is very astringent.
Collection, Prices and Uses — Crane's-bill root depends for its medicinal value on its astringent properties and as its astringency is due to the tannin content, the root should, of course, be collected at that season of the year when it is richest in that constituent. Experiments have proved that the yield of tannin in Crane's-bill is greatest just before flowering, which is in April or May, according to locality. It should, therefore, be collected just before the flowering periods, and not, as is commonly the case, in autumn. The price of this root ranges from 4 to 8 cents a pound.
Crane's-bill root, which is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, is used as a tonic and astringent.
Synonyms — Taraxacum taraxacum (L.) Karst: (a) Taraxacum densleonis Desf.
Pharmacopoeial Names — Taraxacum.
Other Common Names — Blow-ball, cankerwort, doon-head, clock, fortune-teller, horse gowan, Irish daisy, yellow gowan, one-o'clock.
Habitat and Range — With the exception, possibly, of a few localities in the South, the dandelion is at home almost everywhere in the United States, being a familiar weed in meadows and waste places, and especially in lawns. It has been naturalized in this country from Europe and is distributed as a weed in all civilized parts of the world.
Description of Plant — It is hardly necessary to give a description of the dandelion, as almost every one is familiar with the coarsely toothed, smooth, shining green leaves, the golden-yellow flowers which open in the morning and only in fair weather, and the round fluffy seed heads of this only too plentiful weed of the lawns. In spring the young, tender leaves are much sought after by the colored market women about Washington, who collect them by the basketful and sell them for greens and salad.
Dandelion is a perennial belonging to the chicory family (Cichoriaceae) and is in flower practically throughout the year. The entire plant contains a white milky juice.
Description of Root — The dandelion has a large, thick and fleshy taproot, sometimes measuring 20 inches in length. In commerce, dandelion root is usually found in pieces 3 to 6 inches long, dark brown on the outside and strongly wrinkled lengthwise. It breaks with a short fracture and shows the thick whitish bark marked with circles of milk ducts and a thin woody center, which is yellow and porous. It is practically without odor and has a bitter taste.
Collections and Uses — Late in summer and in fall the milky juice becomes thicker and the bitterness increases and this is the time to collect dandelion root. It should be carefully washed and thoroughly dried. Dandelion roots lose considerably in drying, weighing less than half as much as the fresh roots. The dried root should not be kept too long, as drying diminishes its medicinal activity. It is official in the United States Pharmacopeia.
Dandelion is used as a tonic in diseases of the liver and in dyspepsia.
Imports and Prices — Most of the dandelion root found on the market is collected in central Europe. There has been an unusually large demand for dandelion root during the season of 1907 and according to the weekly records contained in "the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter" the imports entered at the port of New York from January 1, 1907, to the end of May amounted to about 47,000 pounds. The price ranges from 4 to 10 cents a pound.
Other Common Names — Saponaria, saponary, common soapwort, bouncing-bet, soaproot, bruisewort, Boston pink, chimney-pink, crow-soap, hedge-pink, old maid's pink, fuller's-herb, lady-by-the-gate, London-pride, latherwort, mock-gilliflower, scourwort, sheepweed, sweet-betty, wild sweet-william, woods-phlox, world's wonder.
Habitat and Range — By one or another of its many common names this plant, naturalized from Europe, is known almost everywhere, occurring along roadsides and in waste places.
Description of Plant — Soapwort is a rather pretty herbaceous perennial, 1 to 2 feet high, and belonging to the pink family (Silenaceae). Its smooth, stout and erect stem is leafy and sparingly branched, the leaves ovate, 2 to 3 inches long, smooth, prominently ribbed, and pointed at the apex. The bright looking, crowded clusters of pink (or in shady localities whitish) flowers appear from about June until far along in September. The five petals of the corolla are furnished with long "claws" or, in other words, they are narrowly lengthened toward the base and inserted within the tubular and pale green calyx. The seed capsule is oblong and one-celled.
Description of Root — Soapwort spreads by means of its stolons, or underground runners. But the roots, which are rather long are the parts employed in medicine. These are cylindrical, tapering toward the apex, more or less branched, and wrinkled lengthwise. The whitish wood is covered with a brownish red, rather thick bark and the roots break with a short, smooth fracture. It is at first sweetish, bitter, and mucilaginous, followed by a persistently acrid taste, but it has no odor.
Collection, Prices and Uses — As already indicated, the roots without the runners, should be collected either in spring or autumn. With water they form a lather, like soap, whence the common names soapwort, soaproot, latherwort, etc., are derived. The price ranges from 5 to 10 cents a pound. The roots are employed in medicine for their tonic, alterative and diaphoretic properties. The leaves are also used.
Synonym — Lappa major Gaertn.
Pharmacopoeial Name — Lappa.
Other Common Names — Cockle-button, cuckold-dock, beggar's-buttons, hurrbur, stick-buttons, hardock, bardane.
Habitat and Range — Burdock, one of our most common weeds, was introduced from the Old World. It grows along road sides, in fields, pastures and waste places, being very abundant in the Eastern and Central States and in some scattered localities in the West.
Description of Plant — Farmers are only too well acquainted with this coarse, unsightly weed. During the first year of its growth this plant, which is a biennial belonging to the aster family (Asteraceae), produces only a rosette of large, thin leaves from a long, tapering root. In the second year a round, fleshy, and branched stem is produced, the plant when full grown measuring from 3 to 7 feet in height. This stem is branched, grooved, and hairy, bearing very large leaves, the lower ones often measuring 18 inches in length. The leaves are placed alternately on the stem, on long, solid, deeply furrowed leafstalks; they are thin in texture, smooth on the upper surface, pale and woolly underneath; usually heart shaped, but sometimes roundish or oval, with even, wavy, or toothed margins.
The flowers are not produced until the second year, appearing from July until frost. Burdock flowers are purple, in small, clustered heads armed with hooked tips, and the spiny burs thus formed are a great pest, attaching themselves to clothing and to the wool and hair of animals. Burdock is a prolific seed producer, one plant bearing as many as 400,000 seeds.
Description of Rootstock — Burdock has a large, fleshy taproot, which when dry becomes scaly and wrinkled lengthwise and has a blackish brown or grayish brown color on the outside, hard, breaking with a short, somewhat fleshy fracture, and showing the yellowish wood with a whitish spongy center. Sometimes there is a small, white, silky tuft at the top of the root, which is formed by the remains of the bases of the leafstalks. The odor of the root is weak and unpleasant, the taste mucilaginous, sweetish and somewhat bitter.
While the root is met with in commerce in its entire state, it is more frequently in broken pieces or in lengthwise slices, the edges of which are turned inward. The roots of other species of Arctium are also employed.
Collection, Prices and Uses — Burdock root is official, and the United States Pharmacopoeia directs that it be collected from plants of the first year's growth, either of Arctium lappa or of other species of Arctium. As Burdock has a rather large, fleshy root, it is difficult to dry and is apt to become moldy, and for this reason it is better to slice the root lengthwise, which will facilitate the drying process. The price ranges from 5 to 10 cents a pound. The best root is said to come from Belgium, where great care is exercised in its collection and curing.
Burdock root is used as an alterative in blood and skin diseases. The seeds and fresh leaves are also used medicinally to a limited extent.
Other Common Names — Rumex, curled dock, narrow dock, sour dock.
Habitat and Range — This troublesome weed, introduced from Europe, is now found thruout the United States, occurring in cultivated as well as in waste ground, among rubbish heaps and along the road side.
Description of Plant — Yellow Dock is a perennial plant belonging to the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae), and has a deep, spindle shaped root, from which arises an erect, angular and furrowed stem, attaining a height of from 2 to 4 feet. The stem is branched near the top and leafy, bearing numerous long dense clusters formed by drooping groups of inconspicuous green flowers placed in circles around the stem. The flowers are produced from June to August, and the fruits which follow are in the form of small triangular nuts, like the grain of buckwheat, to which family the dock belongs. So long as the fruits are green and immature they can scarcely be distinguished from the flowers, but as they ripen the clusters take on a rusty brown color. The leaves of the yellow dock are lance shaped, acute, with the margins strongly waved and crisped, the lower long-stalked leaves being blunt or heart shaped at the base from 6 to 8 inches in length, while those nearer the top are narrower and shorter, only 3 to 6 inches in length, short stemmed or stemless.
The broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius L.), is known also as bitter dock, common dock, blunt-leaved dock, and butter-dock, is a very common weed found in waste places from the New England States to Oregon and south to Florida and Texas. It grows to about the same height as the yellow dock, to which it bears a close resemblance, differing principally in its more robust habit of growth. The stem is stouter than in yellow dock and the leaves, which likewise are wavy along the margin, are much broader and longer. The green flowers appear from June to August and are in rather long, open clusters, the groups rather loose and far apart.
Description of Roots — Yellow Dock root is large and fleshy, usually from 8 to 12 inches long, tapering or spindle shaped, with few or no rootlets. When dry it is usually twisted and prominently wrinkled, the rather thick, dark, reddish brown bark marked with small scars. The inside of the root is whitish at first, becoming yellowish. The fracture is short, but shows some splintery fibers. The root, as it occurs in commerce, is either entire or occasionally split lengthwise.
The darker colored root of the broad-leaved dock has a number of smaller branches near the crown and more rootlets. Dock roots have but a very faint odor and a bitter, astringent taste.
Collection, Prices and Uses — The roots should be collected in late summer or autumn, after the fruiting tops have turned brown, then washed, either left entire or split lengthwise into halves or quarters and carefully dried. Yellow Dock root ranges from 4 to 6 cents a pound.
In the United States Pharmacopoeia of 1890 "the roots of Rumex crispus and of some other species of Rumex" were official and both of the above-named species are used, but the Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus) is the species most commonly employed in medicine. The docks are largely used for purifying the blood and in the treatment of skin diseases.
The young root leaves of both of the species mentioned are sometimes used in spring as pot herbs.
Pharmacopoeial Name — Stillingia.
Other Common Names — Queen's-delight, queen's-root, silverleaf, nettle-potato.
Habitat and Range — This plant is found in dry, sandy soil and in pine barrens from Maryland to Florida west to Kansas and Texas.
Description of Plant — Like most of the other members of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), stillingia also contains a milky juice. This indigenous, herbaceous perennial is about 1 to 3 feet in height, bright green and somewhat fleshy, with crowded leaves of a somewhat leathery texture. The leaves are practically stemless and vary greatly in form, from lance shaped, oblong, to oval and elliptical, round toothed or saw toothed. The pale yellow flowers, which appear from April to October, are borne in a dense terminal spike and consist of two kinds, male and female, the male flowers arranged in dense clusters around the upper part of the stalk and the female flowers occurring at the base of the spike. The seeds are contained in a roundish 3-lobed capsule.
Description of Root — Stillingia consists of somewhat cylindrical or slenderly spindle shaped roots from 6 inches to a foot in length, slightly branched, the yellowish white, porous wood covered with a rather thick, reddish brown, wrinkled bark, the whole breaking with a fibrous fracture. As found in commerce, stillingia is usually in short transverse sections, the ends of the sections pinkish and fuzzy with numerous fine, silky bast fibres, and the bark showing scattered yellowish brown resin cells and milk ducts. It has a peculiar unpleasant odor, and a bitter, acrid and pungent taste.
Collection, Prices and Uses — Stillingia root is collected in late autumn or early in spring, usually cut into short, transverse sections and dried. The price ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound.
This root, which is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, has been a popular drug in the South for more than a century and is employed principally as an alterative.
Synonym — Frasera walteri Michx.
Other Common Names — Frasera, meadowpride, pyramid-flower, pyramid-plant, Indian lettuce, yellow gentian, ground-century.
Habit and Range American Colombo occurs in dry soil from the western part of New York to Wisconsin, south to Georgia and Kentucky.
Description of Plant — During the first and second year of the growth of this plant only the root leaves are produced These are generally somewhat rounded at the summit, narrowed toward the base, and larger than the stem leaves, which develop in the third year. The leaves are deep green and produced mostly in whorls of four, the stem leaves being 3 to 6 inches in length and oblong or lance shaped. In the third year the stem is developed and the flowers are produced from June to August. The stem is stout, erect, cylindrical, and 3 to 8 feet in height. The flowers of American Colombo are borne in large terminal, handsome pyramidal clusters, sometimes 2 feet in length, and are greenish yellow or yellowish white, dotted with brown purple. They are slender stemmed, about 1 inch across, with a wheel shaped, 4-parted corolla The seeds are contained in a much compressed capsule. American Colombo is an indigenous perennial and belongs to the gentian family (Gentianaceae.)
Description of Root — The root is long, horizontal, spindle shaped, yellow, and wrinkled. In the fresh state it is fleshy and quite heavy. The American Colombo root of commerce, formerly in transverse slices, now generally occurs in lengthwise slices. The outside is yellowish or pale orange and the inside spongy and pale yellow. The taste is bitter. American Colombo root resembles the official gentian root in taste and odor, and the uses are also similar.
Collection, Prices and Uses — The proper time for collecting American Colombo root is in the autumn of the second year or in March or April of the third year. It is generally cut into lengthwise slices before drying. The price of American Colombo root ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound.
The dried root, which was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1880, is used as a simple tonic. In the fresh state the root possesses emetic and cathartic properties.
Synonym — Triticum repens L.
Pharmacopoeial Name — Triticum.
Other Common Names — Dog-grass, quick-grass, quack-grass, quitch-grass, quake-grass, scutch-grass, twitch-grass, witch-grass, wheat-grass, creeping wheat-grass, devil's grass, durfa-grass, Durfee-grass, Dutch-grass, Fin's-grass, Chandler's-grass.
Habitat and Range — Like many of our weeds, couch-grass was introduced from Europe, and is now one of the worst pests the farmer has to contend with, taking possession of the cultivated ground and crowding out valuable crops. It occurs most abundantly from Maine to Maryland, westward to Minnesota and Minnesota, and is spreading on farms on the Pacific slope, but is rather sparingly distributed in the South.
Description of Plant — Couch-grass is rather coarse, 1 to 3 feet high, and when in flower very much resemble rye or beardless wheat. Several round, smooth, hollow stems, thickened at the joints, are produced from the long, creeping, jointed rootstock. The stems bear 5 to 7 leaves from 3 to 12 inches long, rough on the upper surface and smooth beneath, while the long, cleft leaf sheaths are smooth. The solitary terminal flowering heads or spikes are compressed, and consist of two rows of spikelets on a wavy and flattened axis. These heads are produced from July to September. Couch Grass belongs to the grass family (Poaceae.)
Description of Rootstock — The pale yellow, smooth rootstock is long, tough and jointed, creeping along underneath the ground, and pushing in every direction. As found in the stores, it consists of short, angular pieces, from one eighth to one-fourth of an inch long, of a shining straw color, and hollow. These pieces are odorless, but have a somewhat sweetish taste.
Collection, Prices and Uses — Couch-Grass, which is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, should be collected in spring, carefully cleaned, and the rootlets removed. The rootstock (not rootlets) is then cut into short pieces about two-fifths of an inch in length, for which purpose an ordinary feed-cutting machine may be used, and thoroughly dried.
Couch-Grass is usually destroyed by plowing up and burn ing, for if any of the joints are permitted to remain in the soil new plants will be produced. But, instead of burning, the rootstocks may be saved and prepared for the drug market in the manner above stated. The prices range from 3 to 5 cents a pound. At present Couch-Grass is collected chiefly in Europe.
A fluid extract is prepared from Couch-Grass, which is used in affections of the kidney and bladder.
Synonym — Echinacea angustifolia DC.
Other Common Names — Pale-purple coneflower, Sampson-root, niggerhead (in Kansas.)
Habitat and Range — Echinacea is found in scattered patches in rich prairie soil or sandy soil from Alabama to Texas and northwestward, being most abundant in Kansas and Nebraska. Tho not growing wild in the Eastern States, It has succeeded well under cultivation in the testing gardens of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C.
Description of Plant — This native herbaceous perennial, belonging to the aster family (Asteraceae), grows to a height of from 2 to 3 feet. It sends up a rather stout bristly-hairy stem, bearing thick rough-hairy leaves, which are broadly lance shaped or linear lance shaped, entire, 3 to 8 inches long, narrowed at each end, and strongly three nerved. The lower leaves have slender stems, but as they approach the top of the plant the stems become shorter and some of the upper leaves are stemless.
The flower heads appearing from July to October, are very pretty, and the plant would do well as an ornamental in gardens. The flowers remain on the plant for a long time, and the color varies from whitish rose to pale purple. The head consists of ray flowers and disk flowers, the former constituting the "petals" surrounding the disk, and the disk itself being composed of small, tubular, greenish yellow flowers. When the flowers first appear the disk is flattened or really concave, but as the flowering progresses it becomes conical in shape. The brown fruiting heads are conical, chaffy, stiff and wiry.
Description of Root — Echinacea has a thick, blackish root, which in commerce occurs in cylindrical pieces of varying length and thickness. The dried root is grayish brown on the outside, the bark wrinkled lengthwise and sometimes spirally twisted. It breaks with a short, weak fracture, showing yellow or greenish yellow wood edges, which give the impression that the wood is decayed.
The odor is scarcely perceptible and the taste is mildly aromatic, afterwards becoming acrid and inducing a flow of saliva.
Collection, Prices and Uses — The root of Echinacea is collected in autumn and brings from 20 to 30 cents a pound. It is said that Echinacea varies greatly in quality due chiefly to the locality in which it grows. According to J. U. Lloyd, the best quality comes from the prairie lands of Nebraska and that from marshy places is inferior.
Echinacea is said to be an alterative and to promote perspiration and induce a flow of saliva. The Indians used the freshly scraped roots for the cure of snake bites.
Other Common Names — Stargrass, blazingstar, mealy starwort, starwort, unicorn-root, true unicorn-root, unicorn-plant, unicorn's-horn, colic-root, devil's-bit, ague-grass, ague-root, aloe-root, crow-corn, huskwort.
A glance at these common names will show many that have been applied to other plants, especially to Chamaelirium, with which Aletris is so much confused. In order to guard against this confusion as much as possible, it is best not to use the common names of this plant at all, referring to it only by its generic name, Aletris.
Habitat and Range — Aletris occurs in dry, generally sandy soil, from Maine to Minnesota, Florida and Tennessee.
Description of Plant — As stated under Chamaelirium, this plant is often confused with the former by collectors and others, although there seems to be no good reason why this should be so. The plants do not resemble each other except in habit of growth, and the trouble undoubtedly arose from a confusion of the somewhat similar common names of the plants, as, for instance, "stargrass" and "starwort."
Aletris may be at once distinguished by the grasslike leaves, which spread out on the ground in the form of a star, and by the slender spikes of rough, mealy flowers.
This native perennial, belonging to the lily family (Liliaceae), is an erect, slender herb, 1 1/2 to 3 feet tall, with basal leaves only. These leaves are grasslike, from 2 to 6 inches long, and have a yellowish green or willow-green color. As already stated, they surround the base of the stem in the form of a star. Instead of stem leaves, there are very small, leaflike bracts placed at some distance apart on the stem. From May to July the erect flowering spike, from 4 to 12 inches long, is produced, bearing white, urn-shaped flowers, sometimes tinged with yellow at the apex, and having a rough, wrinkled and mealy appearance. The seed capsule is ovoid, opening by three halves, and containing many seeds. When the flowers in the spike are still in bud, there is a suggestion of resemblance to the female spike of Chamaelirium with its fruit half formed.
Several other species are recognized by botanists, namely, Aletris Aurea Walt., A. lutea Small, and A. obovata Nash, but aside from the flowers, which in aurea and lutea are yellow, and slight variations in form, such as a more contracted perianth, the differences are not so pronounced that the plants would require a detailed description here. They have undoubtedly been collected with Aletris farinosa for years, and are sufficiently like it to be readily recognized.
Description of Rootstock — Not only have the plants of Aletris and Chamaelirium been confused, but the rootstocks as well. There is, however, no resemblance between them.
Aletris has a horizontal rootstock from one-half to 1 1/2 inches in length, rough and scaly, and almost completely hidden by the fibrous roots and remains of the basal leaves. Upon close examination the scars of former leaf stems may be seen along the upper surface. The rootlets are from 2 to 10 inches in length, those of recent growth whitish and covered with several layers of epidermis which gradually peel off, and the older rootlets of the rootstock showing this epidermis already scaled off, leaving only the hard, brown, woody center. The rootstock in commerce almost invariably shows at one end a tuft of the remains of the basal leaves, which do not lose their green color. It is grayish brown outside, whitish within, and breaks with a mealy fracture. It has no odor, and a starchy taste, followed by some acridity, but no bitterness.
Collection, Prices and Uses — Aletris should be collected in autumn, and there is no reason why collectors should make the common mistake of confusing Aletris with Chamaelirium. By comparing the description of Aletris with that of Chamaelirium, it will be seen that there is scarcely any resemblance. Aletris ranges from 30 to 40 cents a pound.
As indicated under Chamaelirium, the medicinal properties have also been considered the same in both plants, but Aletris is now regarded of value chiefly in digestive troubles. Aletris was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1870.
Other Common Names — Baptisia, indigo-weed, yellow indigo, American indigo, yellow broom, indigo-broom, clover-broom, broom-clover, horsefly-weed, shoofly, rattlebush.
Habitat and Range — This native herb grows on dry, poor land, and is found from Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida and Louisiana.
Description of Plant — Many who have been brought up in the country will recognize in the wild indigo the plant so frequently used by farmers, especially in Virginia and Maryland, to keep flies away from horses, bunches of it being fastened to the harness for this purpose.
Wild Indigo grows about 2 to 3 feet in height and the clover-like blossoms and leaves will show at once that it belongs to the same family as the common clover, namely, the pea family (Fabaceae). It is an erect, much-branched, very leafy plant of compact growth, the 3-leaved, bluish green foliage somewhat resembling clover leaves. The flowers, as already stated, are like common clover flowers — that is, not like clover heads, but the single flowers composing these; they are bright yellow, about one-half inch in length and are produced in numerous clusters which appear from June to September. The seed pods, on stalks longer than the calyx, are nearly globular or ovoid and are tipped with an awl shaped style.
Another species, said to possess properties similar to those of baptisia tinctoria and substituted for it, is B. alba R. Br., called the white wild indigo. This plant has white flowers and is found in the Southern States and on the plains of the Western States.
Description of Root — Wild Indigo has a thick, knotty crown or head, with several stem scars, and a round, fleshy root, sending out cylindrical branches and rootlets almost 2 feet in length. The white woody interior is covered with a thick, dark brown bark, rather scaly or dotted with small, wart-like excrescences. The root breaks with a tough, fibrous fracture. There is a scarcely perceptible odor and the taste, which resides chiefly in the bark, is nauseous, bitter and acrid.
Collection, Prices and Uses — The root of Wild Indigo is collected in autumn, and brings from 4 to 8 cents a pound.
Large doses of Wild Indigo are emetic and cathartic and may prove dangerous. It also has stimulant, astringent and antiseptic properties, and is used as a local application to sores, ulcers, etc.
The herb is sometimes employed like the root and the entire plant was official from 1830 to 1840.
In some sections the young, tender shoots are used for greens, like those of pokeweed, but great care must be exercised to gather them before they are too far advanced in growth, as otherwise bad results will follow.
A blue coloring matter has been prepared from the plant and used as a substitute for indigo, to which, however, it is very much inferior.
Pharmacopoeial Name — Asclepias.
Other Common Names — Butterfly weed, Canada-root, Indian-posy, orange-root, orange swallowwort, tuberroot, whiteroot, windroot, yellow or orange milkweed.
Habitat and Range — Pleurisy-Root flourishes in the open or in the pine woods, in dry, sandy or gravelly soil, usually along the banks of streams. Its range extends from Ontario and Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida, Texas and Arizona, but it is found in greatest abundance in the South.
Description of Plant — This is a very showy and ornamental perennial plant, indigenous to this country, and belonging to the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae); it is erect and rather stiff in habit, but with brilliant heads of bright orange-colored flowers that attract attention from afar.
The stems are rather stout, erect, hairy, about 1 to 2 feet in height, sometimes branched near the top, and bearing a thick growth of leaves. These are either stemless or borne on short stems, are somewhat rough to the touch, 2 to 6 inches long, lance shaped or oblong, the apex either sharp pointed or blunt, with a narrow, rounded or heart shaped base. The flower heads, borne at the ends of the stem and branches, consist of numerous, oddly shaped orange colored flowers. The corolla is composed of five segments, which are reflexed or turned back and the crown has five erect or spreading "hoods," within each of which is a slender incurved horn. The plant is in flower for some time, usually from June to September, followed late in the fall by pods, which are from 4 to 5 inches long, green, tinged with red, finely hairy on the outside, and containing the seeds with their long, silky hairs. Unlike the other milkweeds, the Pleurisy Root contains little or no milky juice.
Description of Root — The root of this plant is large, white and fleshy, spindle shaped, branching. As found in commerce it consists of lengthwise or crosswise pieces from 1 to 6 inches in length and about three-fourths of an inch in thickness. It is wrinkled lengthwise and also transversely and has a knotty head. The thin bark is orange brown and the wood yellowish, with white rays. It has no odor and a somewhat bitter, acrid taste.
Collection, Prices and Uses — The root, which is usually found rather deep in the soil, is collected in autumn, cut into transverse or lengthwise slices and dried. The price ranges from 6 to 10 cents a pound.
Pleurisy-Root was much esteemed by the Indians, has long been used in domestic practice, and is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia. It is used in disordered digestion and in affections of the lungs, in the last-named instance to promote expectoration, relieve pains in the chest, and induce easier breathing. It is also useful in producing perspiration.
Other Species — Besides the official Pleurisy-Root there are two other species of Asclepias which are employed to some extent for the same purposes, namely, the common milkweed and the swamp-milkweed.
The common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) is a perennial, native in fields and waste places from Canada to North Carolina and Kansas. It has a stout, usually simple stem 3 to 5 feet in height and oblong or oval leaves, smooth on the upper surface and densely hairy beneath. The flowers, similar in form to those of Asclepias tuberosa, are pinkish purple and appear from June to August, followed by erect pods 3 to 5 inches long, woolly with matted hair and covered with prickles and borne on recurved stems. The plant contains an abundance of milky juice.
The root of the common milkweed is from 1 to 6 feet long, cylindrical and finely wrinkled. The short branches and scars left by former stems give the root a round, knotty appearance. The bark is thick, grayish brown and the inside white, the root breaking with a short, splintery fracture. Common milkweed root has a very bitter taste, but no odor.
It is collected in autumn and cut into transverse slices before drying. Common milkweed ranges from 6 to 8 cents a pound.
Swamp-milkweed (Asclepias incarnata L.) is a native perennial herb found in swamps from Canada to Tennessee and Kansas. The slender stem, leafy to the top, is 1 to 2 feet in height, branched above, the leaves lance shaped or oblong lance shaped. The flowers, also similar to those A tuberosa, appear from July to September, and are flesh colored or rose colored. The pods are 2 to 3 1/2 inches long, erect, and very sparingly hairy.
The root of the swamp-milkweed, which is also collected in autumn, is not quite an inch in length, hard and knotty, with several light brown rootlets. The tough white wood, which has a thick, central pith, is covered with a thin, yellowish brown bark. It is practically without odor, and the taste, sweetish at first, finally becomes bitter. This root brings about 3 cents a pound.
Pharmacopoeial — Sanguinaria.
Other Common Names — Redroot, red puccoon, red Indian-paint, puccoon-root, coonroot, white puccoon, pauson, snakebite, sweet-slumber, tetterwort, tumeric.
Habitat and Range — Bloodroot is found in rich, open woods from Canada south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Nebraska.
Description of Plant — This indigenous plant is among the earliest of our spring flowers, the waxy-white blossom, enfolded by the grayish green leaf, usually making its appearance early in April. The stem and root contain a blood-red juice. Bloodroot is a perennial and belongs to the same family as the opium poppy, the Papaveraceae. Each bud on the thick, horizontal rootstock produces but a single leaf and a flowering scape, reaching about 6 inches in height. The plant is smooth and both stem and leaves, especially when young, present a grayish green appearance, being covered with a "bloom" such as is found on some fruits. The leaves are palmately 5 to 9 lobed, the lobes either cleft at the apex or having a wavy margin, and are borne on leaf stems about 6 to 14 inches long. After the plants have ceased flowering the leaves, at first only 3 inches long and 4 to 5 inches broad, continue to expand until they are about 4 to 7 inches long and 6 to 12 inches broad. The under side of the leaf is paler than the upper side and shows prominent veins. The flower measures about 1 inch across, is white, rather waxlike in appearance, with numerous golden-yellow stamens in the center. The petals soon fall off, and the oblong, narrow seed pod develops, attaining a length of about an inch.
Description of Rootstock — When dug out of the ground Bloodroot is rather thick, round and fleshy, slightly curved at the ends, and contains a quantity of blood-red juice. It is from 1 to 4 inches in length, from one-half to 1 inch in thickness, externally reddish brown, internally a bright red blood color, and produces many thick, orange colored rootlets.
The rootstock shrinks considerably in drying, the outside turning dark brown and the inside orange-red or yellowish with numerous small red dots, and it breaks with a short, sharp fracture. It has but a slight odor and the taste is bitter and acrid and very persistent. The powdered root causes sneezing.
Collection, Prices and Use — The rootstock should be collected in autumn, after the leaves have died, and after curing, it should be stored in a dry place, as it rapidly deteriorates if allowed to become moist. Age also impairs its acridity. The price paid to collectors for this root ranges from about 5 to 10 cents per pound.
Bloodroot was well known to the American Indians, who used the red juice as a dye for skins and baskets and for painting their faces and bodies. It is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia and is used as a tonic, alterative, stimulant and emetic.
Pharmacopoeial Name — Spigelia.
Other Common Names — Carolina pinkroot, pinkroot, Carolina pink, Maryland pink, Indian pink, starbloom, wormgrass, wormweed, American wormroot.
Habitat and Range — This pretty little plant is found in rich woods from New Jersey to Florida, west to Texas and Wisconsin, but occurring principally in the Southern States. It is fast disappearing, however from its native haunts.
Description of Plant — Pinkroot belongs to the same family as the yellow jasmine, namely, the Logania family (Loganiaceae), noted for its poisonous species. It is a native perennial herb, with simple, erect stem 6 inches to 1 1/2 feet high, nearly smooth. The leaves are stemless, generally ovate, pointed at the apex and rounded or narrowed at the base; they are from 2 to 4 inches long, one-half to 2 inches wide, smooth on the upper surface, and only slightly hairy on the veins on the lower surface. The rather showy flowers are produced from May to July in a terminal one-sided spike; they are from 1 to 2 inches in length, somewhat tube shaped, narrowed below, slightly inflated toward the center, and again narrowed or contracted toward the top, terminating in five lance shaped lobes; the flowers are very showy, with their brilliant coloring — bright scarlet on the outside, and the inside of the tube, and the lobes a bright yellow. The seed capsule is double, consisting of two globular portions more or less united, and containing numerous seeds.
Description of Rootstock — The rootstock is rather small, from 1 to 2 inches in length and about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. It is somewhat crooked or bent, dark brown, with a roughened appearance of the upper surface caused by cup shaped scars, the remains of former annual stems. The lower surface and the sides have numerous long, finely branched, lighter colored roots, which are rather brittle. Pinkroot has a pleasant, aromatic odor, and the taste is described as sweetish, bitter and pungent.
Collection, Prices and Uses — Pinkroot is collected after the flowering period. It is said to be scarce, and was reported as becoming scarce as long ago as 1830. The price paid to collectors ranges from 25 to 40 cents a pound.
The roots of other plants, notably those of the East Tennessee pinkroot (Ruellia ciliosa Pursh), are often found mixed with the true Pinkroot, and the Ruellia ciliosa is even substituted for it. This adulteration or substitution probably accounts for the inertness which has sometimes been attributed to the true Pinkroot and which has caused it to fall into more or less disuse. It has long been known that the true Pinkroot was adulterated, but this adulteration was supposed to be caused by the admixture of Carolina phlox (Phlox Carolina L., now known as Phlox ovata L.), but this is said now to be no part of the substitution.
The rootstock of Ruellia ciliosa is larger and not as dark as that of the Maryland pinkroot and has fewer and coarser roots, from which the bark readily separates, leaving the whitish wood exposed.
Pinkroot was long known by the Indians, and its properties were made known to physicians by them. It is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia and is used principally as an anthelmintic.
Synonym — Gilenia Trifoliata Moench.
Other Common Names — Gilenia, bowman's-root, false ipecac, western dropwort, Indian-hippo.
Habitat and Range — Indian-Physic is native in rich woods from New York to Michigan, south to Georgia and Missouri.
Description of Plant — The reddish stems of this slender, graceful perennial of the rose family (Rosaceae) are about 2 to 3 feet high, several erect and branched stems being produced from the same root. The leaves are almost stemless and trifoliate; that is, composed of three leaflets. They are ovate or lanceolate, 2 to 3 inches long, narrowed at the base, smooth and toothed. The nodding, white pinkish flowers are few, produced in loose terminal clusters from May to July. The five petals are long, narrowed or tapering toward the base, white or pinkish, and inserted in the tubular, somewhat bell shaped, red tinged calyx. The seed pods are slightly hairy.
At the base of the leaf stems are small leaflike parts, called stipules, which in this species are very small, linear and entire. In the following species, which is very similar to trifoliatus and collected with it, the stipules, however, are so much larger that they form a prominent character, which has given rise to its specific name, stipulatus.