THICKET PLANTS.
Black Indian Hemp.
Apocynum Cannabinum L.
Pharmacopoeial Name--Apocynum.
Other Common Names--Canadian hemp, American hemp, amy-root,
bowman's-root, bitterroot, Indian-physic, rheumatism-weed, milkweed,
wild cotton, Choctaw-root.
The name "Indian hemp" is often applied to this plant, but it should
never be used without the adjective "black." "Indian hemp" is a name
that properly belongs to Canabis indica, a true hemp plant, from
which the narcotic drug "hashish" is obtained.
Habitat and Range--Black Indian hemp is a native of this country and
may be found in thickets and along the borders of old fields thruout
the United States.
Description of Plant--This is a common herbaceous perennial about 2
to 4 feet high, with erect or ascending branches, and, like most of
the plants belonging to the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), contains a
milky juice. The short-stemmed opposite leaves are oblong, lance
shaped oblong or ovate-oblong, about 2 to 6 inches long, usually
sharp pointed, the upper surface smooth and the lower sometimes
hairy. The plant is in flower from June to August and the small
greenish white flowers are borne in dense heads, followed later by
the slender pods, which are about 4 inches in length and pointed at
the apex.
Other Species--Considerable confusion seems to exist in regard to
which species yields the root which has proved of greatest value
medicinally. The Pharmacopoeia directs that "the dried rhizome and
roots of Apocynum cannabinum or of closely allied species of
Apocynum" be used.
[Illustration: Black Indian Hemp (Apocynum Cannabinum), Flowering
Portion, Pods, and Rootstock.]
In the older botanical works and medical herbals only two species of
Apocynum were recognized, namely, A. cannabinum L. and A.
androsaemifolium L., altho it was known that both of these were very
variable. In the newer botanical manuals both of these species still
hold good, but the different forms and variations are now recognized
as distinct species, those formerly referred to cannabium being
distinguished by the erect or nearly erect lobes of the corolla, and
those of the androsaemifolium group being distinguished by the
spreading or recurved lobes of the corolla.
Among the plants that were formerly collected as Apocynum or varietal
forms of it, and which are now considered as distinct species, may be
mentioned in the following:
Riverbank-dogbane (A. Album Greene), which frequents the banks of
rivers and similar moist locations from Maine to Wisconsin, Virginia
and Missouri. This plant is perfectly smooth and has white flowers
and relatively smaller leaves than A. cannabinum.
Velvet dogbane (A. pubescens R. Br.), which is common from Virginia
to Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. The entire plant has a soft, hairy or
velvety appearance, which renders identification easy. According to
the latest edition of the National Standard Dispensatory it is not
unlikely that this is the plant that furnishes the drug that has been
so favorably reported upon.
Apocynum androsaemifolium is also gathered by drug collectors for
Apocynum cannabinum. Its root is likewise employed in medicine, but
its action is not the same as that of cannabinum and it should
therefore not be substituted for it. It closely resembles cannabinum.
Description of Rootstock--The following description of the drug as
found in commerce is taken from the United States Pharmacopoeia: "Of
varying length, 3 to 8 mm. thick, cylindrical or with a few angles
produced by drying, lightly wrinkled, longitudinally and usually more
or less fissured transversely; orange-brown, becoming gray-brown on
keeping; brittle; fracture sharply transverse, exhibiting a thin
brown layer of cork, the remainder of the bark nearly as thick as the
radius of the wood, white or sometimes pinkish, starchy, containing
laticiferous ducts; the wood yellowish, having several rings, finely
radiate and very coarsely porous; almost inodorous, the taste
starchy, afterwards becoming bitter and somewhat acrid."
Collection, Prices and Uses--The root of black Indian hemp is
collected in autumn and brings from 8 to 10 cents a pound.
It is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia and has emetic,
cathartic, diaphoretic, expectorant and diuretic properties, and on
account of the last-named action it is used in dropsical affections.
The tough, fibrous bark of the stalks of Black Indian Hemp was
employed by the Indians as a substitute for hemp in making twine,
fishing nets, etc.
Chamaelirium, or Helonias.
Chamaelirium Luteum (L.) A. Gray.
Synonym--Helonias Dioica Pursh.
Other Common Names--Unicorn root, false unicorn-root, blazing star,
drooping starwort, starwort, devil's-bit, unicorn's-horn.
In order to avoid the existing confusion of common names of this
plant, it is most desirable to use the scientific names Chamaelirium
or Helonias exclusively. Chamaelirium is the most recent botanical
designation and will be used thruout this article, but the synonym
Helonias is a name very frequently employed by the drug trade. The
plant with which it is so much confused, Aletris farinosa, will also
be designated thruout by its generic name, Aletris.
[Illustration: Chamaelirium (Chamaelirium Luteum).]
Habitat and Range--This native plant is found in open woods from
Massachusetts to Michigan, south to Florida and Arkansas.
Description of Plant--Chamaelirium and Aletris (Aletris farinosa)
have long been confused by drug collectors and others, owing
undoubtedly to the transposition of some of their similar common
names, such as "starwort" and "stargrass." The plants can scarcely be
said to resemble each other, however, except perhaps in their general
habit of growth.
The male and female flowers of Chamaelirium are borne on separate
plants, and in this respect are entirely different from Aletris;
neither do the flowers resemble those of Aletris.
Chamaelirium is an erect, somewhat fleshy herb, perennial, and
belongs to the bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae.) The male plant
grows to a height of from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet, and the female plant
is sometimes 4 feet tall and is also more leafy.
The plants have both basal and stem leaves, where as Aletris has only
the basal leaves. The basal leaves of Chamaelirium are broad and
blunt at the top, narrowing toward the base into a long stem; they
are sometimes so much broadened at the top that they may be
characterized as spoon shaped, and are from 2 to 8 inches long and
from one-half to 1 1/2 inches wide. The stem leaves are lance shaped
and sharp pointed, on short stems or stemless.
The white starry flowers of Chamaelirium are produced from June to
July, those of the male plant being borne in nodding, graceful,
plume-like spikes 3 to 9 inches long, and those of the female plant
in erect spikes. The many seeded capsule is oblong, opening by three
valves at the apex.
Another species is now recognized, Chamaelirium obovale Small, which
seems to differ chiefly in having larger flowers and obovoid
capsules.
Description of Rootstock--The rootstock of Chamaelirium does not in
the least resemble that of Aletris, with which it is so generally
confused. It is from one-half to 2 inches in length, generally curved
upward at one end in the form of a horn (whence the common name,
"unicorn") and having the appearance of having been bitten off. It is
of a dark brown color with fine transverse wrinkles, rough, on the
upper surface showing a few stem scars, and giving off from all sides
numerous brown fibrous rootlets. The more recent rootlets have a soft
outer covering, which in the older rootlets has worn away, leaving
the fine but tough and woody whitish center. The rootlets penetrate
to the central part of the rootstock, and this serves as a
distinguishing character from Aletris, as a transverse section of
Chamaelirium very plainly shows these fibers extending some distance
within the rootstock. Furthermore, the rootstock of Chamaelirium
exhibits a number of small holes wherever these rootlets have broken
off, giving it the appearance of having become "wormy." It is hard
and horny within and has a peculiar odor and a very bitter,
disagreeable taste, whereas Aletris is not at all bitter.
Collection, Prices and Uses--Chamaelirium should be collected in
autumn. The prices paid to collectors may be said to range from about
30 to 45 cents a pound. In the fall of 1906 a scarcity of this root
was reported. As already indicated, Chamaelirium and Aletris are
often gathered and mistaken for each other by collectors, but, as
will be seen from the preceding description, there is really no
excuse for such error.
From the confusion that has existed properties peculiar to the one
plant have also been attributed to the other, but it seems now
generally agreed that Chamaelirium is of use especially in
derangements of women.
Wild Yam.
Dioscorea Villosa L.
Other Common Names--Dioscorea, colicroot, rheumatism-root, devil's
bones.
Habitat and Range--Wild yam grows in moist thickets, trailing over
adjacent shrubs and bushes, its range extending from Rhode Island to
Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. It is most common in the
central and southern portions of the United States.
Description of Plant--This native perennial vine is similar to and
belongs to the same family as the well-known cinnamon vine of the
gardens--namely, the yam family (Dioscoreaceae.) It attains a length
of about 15 feet, the stem smooth, the leaves heart shaped and 2 to 6
inches long by 1 to 4 inches wide.
[Illustration: Wild Yam (Dioscorea Villosa).]
The leaves, which are borne on long, slender stems, are thin, green,
and smooth on the upper surface, paler and rather thickly hairy on
the under surface. The small greenish yellow flowers are produced
from June to July, the male flowers borne in drooping clusters about
3 to 6 inches long, and the female flowers in drooping spikelike
heads. The fruit, which is in the form of a dry, membranous,
3-winged, yellowish green capsule, ripens about September and remains
on the vine for some time during the winter.
Growing farther south than the species above mentioned is a variety
for which the name Glabra has been suggested.
According to C. G. Lloyd, there is a variety of Dioscorea Villosa,
the root of which first made its appearance among the true yam roots
of commerce, and which was so different in form that it was rejected
as an adulteration. The plant, however, from which the false root was
derived was found upon investigation to be almost identical with the
true yam, except that the leaves were perfectly smooth, lacking the
hairiness on the under surface of the leaf which is characteristic of
the true wild yam. The false variety also differs in its habit of
growth, not growing in dense clumps like the true wild yam, but
generally isolated. The root of the variety, however, is quite
distinct from that of the true wild yam, being much more knotty.
Lloyd states further that the hairiness or lack of hairiness on the
under side of the leaf is a certain indication as to the form of the
root.
Lloyd, recognizing the necessity of classifying these two yam roots
of commerce, has designated the smooth-leaved variety as Dioscorea
Villosa var. Glabra.
Description of Rootstocks--The rootstock of the true wild yam runs
horizontally underneath the surface of the ground. As found in
commerce, it consists of very hard pieces, 6 inches and sometimes 2
feet in length, but only about one-fourth or one-half of an inch in
diameter, twisted, covered with a thin, brown bark, whitish within
and showing stem scars almost an inch apart on the upper surface,
small protuberances on the sides, and numerous rather wiry rootlets
on the lower surface.
The false wild yam, on the other hand, has a much heavier, rough,
knotty rootstock, with thick branches from 1 inch to 3 inches long,
the upper surface covered with crowded stem scars and the lower side
furnished with stout, wiry rootlets. Within it is similar to the true
yam root.
Collection, Prices and Uses--The roots are generally collected in
autumn, and bring from 2 1/2 to 4 cents a pound. Wild Yam is said to
possess expectorant properties and to promote perspiration, and in
large doses providing emetic. It has been employed in bilious colic,
and by the negroes in the South in the treatment of muscular
rheumatism.