SENECA SNAKEROOT.
Polygala Senega L.
Pharmacopoeial Name--Senega.
Other Common Names--Senega snakeroot, Seneca-root, rattlesnake-root,
mountain flax.
Habitat and Range--Rocky woods and hillsides are the favorite haunts
of this indigenous plant. It is found in such situations from New
Brunswick and western New England to Minnesota and the Canadian Rocky
Mountains, and south along the Allegheny Mountains to North Carolina
and Missouri.
Description of Plant--The perennial root of this useful little plant
sends up a number of smooth, slender, erect stems (as many as 15 to
20 or more), sometimes slightly tinged with red, from 6 inches to a
foot in height, and generally unbranched. The leaves alternate on the
stem, are lance shaped or oblong lance shaped, thin in texture, 1 to
2 inches long, and stemless. The flowering spikes are borne on the
ends of the stems and consist of rather crowded, small, greenish
white, insignificant flowers. The flowering period of Seneca
Snakeroot is from May to June. The spike blossoms gradually, and when
the lower-most flowers have already fruited the upper part of the
spike is still in flower. The seed capsules are small and contain two
black, somewhat hairy seeds. The short slender stalks supporting
these seed capsules have a tendency to break off from the main axis
before the seed is fully mature, leaving the spike in a rather
ragged-looking condition, and the yield of seed, therefore, is not
very large. Seneca Snakeroot belongs to the milkwort family
(Polygalaceae).
A form of Seneca Snakeroot, growing mostly in the North Central
States and distinguished by its taller stems and broader leaves, has
been called Polygala Senega Var. Latifolia.
[Illustration: Seneca Snakeroot (Polygala Senega), Flowering Plant
with Root.]
Description of Root--Seneca Snakeroot is described in the United
States Pharmacopoeia as follows: "Somewhat cylindrical, tapering,
more or less flexuous, 3 to 15 cm. long and 2 to 8 mm. thick, bearing
several similar horizontal branches and a few rootlets; crown knotty
with numerous buds and short stem remnants; externally yellowish gray
or brownish yellow, longitudinally wrinkled, usually marked by a keel
which is more prominent in perfectly dry roots near the crown;
fracture short, wood light yellow, usually excentrically developed;
odor slight, nauseating; taste sweetish, afterwards acrid."
The Seneca Snakeroots found in commerce vary greatly in size, that
obtained from the South, which is really the official drug, being
usually light colored and small. The principal supply of Seneca
Snakeroot now comes from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and farther northward,
and this western Seneca Snakeroot has a much larger, darker root,
with a crown or head sometimes measuring 2 or 3 inches across and the
upper part of the root very thick. It is also less twisted and not so
distinctly keeled.
Seneca Snakeroot is often much adulterated with the roots of other
species of Polygala and of other plants.
Collection, Prices and Uses--The time for collecting Seneca Snakeroot
is in autumn. Labor conditions play a great part in the rise and fall
of prices for this drug. It is said that very little Seneca Snakeroot
has been dug in the Northwest during 1906, due to the fact that the
Indians and others who usually engage in this work were so much in
demand as farm hands and railroad laborers, which paid them far
better than the digging of Seneca Snakeroot. Collectors receive from
about 55 to 70 cents a pound for this root.
This drug, first brought into prominence as a cure for snake bite
among the Indians, is now employed as an expectorant, emetic and
diuretic. It is official in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.