FIELD PLANTS.
Dandelion.
Taraxacum Officinale Weber, (a).
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.
[Illustration: Dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale).]
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.
Soapwort.
Saponaria Officinalis L.
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.
[Illustration: Soapwort (Saponaria Officinalis).]
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.
Burdock.
Arctium Lappa L.
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.
[Illustration: Burdock (Arctium Lappa), Flowering Branch and Root.]
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.
Yellow Dock.
Rumex Crispus L.
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.
[Illustration: Yellow Dock (Rumex Crispus), First Year's Growth.]
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.
[Illustration: Broad-Leaved Dock (Rumex Obtusifolius), Leaf,
Fruiting Spike and Root.]
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.