MEDICINAL HERBS.
American Angelica.
Angelica Atropurpurea L.
Synonym--Archangelica atropurpurea Hoffn.
Other Common Names--Angelica, purple-stemmed angelica, great
angelica, high angelicam, purple angelica, masterwort.
Habitat and Range--American Angelica is a native herb, common in
swamps and damp places from Labrador to Delaware and west to
Minnesota.
Description of Plant--This strong-scented, tall, stout perennial
reaches a height of from 4 to 6 feet, with a smooth, dark purple,
hollow stem 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The leaves are divided into
three parts, each of which is again divided into threes; the rather
thin segments are oval or ovate, somewhat acute, sharply toothed and
sometimes deeply cut, and about 2 inches long. The lower leaves
sometimes measure 2 feet in width, while the upper ones are smaller,
but all have very broad, expanded stalks. The greenish white flowers
are produced from June to July in somewhat roundish, many-rayed
umbels or heads, which sometimes are 8 to 10 inches in diameter. The
fruits are smooth, compressed and broadly oval. American Angelica
root is branched, from 3 to 6 inches long, and less than an inch in
diameter. The outside is light, brownish gray, with deep furrows, and
the inside nearly white, the whole breaking with a short fracture and
the thick bark showing fine resin dots. It has an aromatic odor, and
the taste at first is sweetish and spicy, afterwards bitter. The
fresh root is said to possess poisonous properties.
The root of the European or garden angelica (Angelica officinalis
Moench) supplies much of the angelica root of commerce. This is
native in northern Europe and is very widely cultivated, especially
in Germany, for the root.
[Illustration: American Angelica (Angelica Atropurpurea).]
Collection, Prices and Uses--The root is dug in autumn and carefully
dried. Care is also necessary in preserving the root, as it is very
liable to the attacks of insects. American Angelica root ranges from
6 to 10 cents a pound.
American Angelica root, which was official in the United States
Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1860 is used as an aromatic, tonic,
stimulant, carminative, diuretic and diaphoretic. In large doses it
acts as an emetic.
The seeds are also employed medicinally.
Comfrey.
Symphytum Officinale L.
Other Common Names--Symphytum, healing herb, knitback, ass-ear,
backwort, blackwort, bruisewort, gum-plant, slippery-root.
Habitat and Range--Comfrey is naturalized from Europe and occurs in
waste places from Newfoundland to Minnesota, south to Maryland.
[Illustration: Comfrey (Symphytum Officinale).]
Description of Plant--This coarse, rough, hairy, perennial herb is
from 2 to 3 feet high, erect and branched, with thick, rough leaves,
the lower ones ovate lance shaped, 3 to 10 inches long, pointed at
the apex, and narrowed at the base into margined stems. The uppermost
leaves are lance shaped, smaller and stemless. Comfrey is in flower
from June to August, the purplish or dirty white, tubular, bell
shaped flowers numerous and borne in dense terminal clusters. The
nutlets which follow are brown, shinning and somewhat wrinkled.
Comfrey belongs to the borage family (Boraginaceae.)
Description of Root--Comfrey has a large, deep, spindle-shaped root,
thick and fleshy at the top, white inside and covered with a thin,
blackish brown bark. The dried root is hard, black and very deeply
and roughly wrinkled, breaking with a smooth, white, waxy fracture.
As it occurs in commerce it is in pieces ranging from about an inch
to several inches in length, only about one-fourth of an inch in
thickness, and usually considerably bent. It has a very mucilaginous,
somewhat sweetish and astringent taste, but no odor.
Collection, Prices and Uses--The root is dug in autumn, or sometimes
in early spring. Comfrey root when first dug is very fleshy and
juicy, but about four-fifths of its weight is lost in drying. The
price ranges from 4 to 8 cents a pound.
The mucilaginous character of Comfrey root renders it useful in
coughs and diarrheal complaints. Its action is demulcent and slightly
astringent.
The leaves are also used to some extent.
Elecampane.
Inula Helenium L.
Other Common Names--Inula, inul, horseheal, elf-dock, elfwort,
horse-elder, scabwort, yellow starwort, velvet dock, wild sunflower.
Habitat and Range--This perennial herb has been naturalized from
Europe, and is found along the roadsides and in fields and damp
pastures from Nova Scotia to North Carolina, westward to Missouri and
Minnesota. It is a native also in Asia.
Description of Plant--When in flower elecampane resembles the
sunflower on a small scale. Like the sunflower, it is a member of the
aster family (Asteraceae). It is a rough plant, growing from 3 to 6
feet in height, but producing during the first year only root leaves,
which attain considerable size. In the following season the stout
densely hairy stem develops, attaining a height of from 3 to 6 feet.
[Illustration: Elecampane (Inula Helenium).]
The leaves are broadly oblong in form, toothed, the upper surface
rough and the under side densely soft-hairy. The basal or root leaves
are borne on long stems, and are from 10 to 20 inches long and 4 to 8
inches wide, while the upper leaves are smaller and stemless or
clasping.
About July to September the terminal flower heads are produced,
either singly or a few together. As already stated, these flower
heads look very much like small sunflowers, 2 to 4 inches broad, and
consist of long, narrow, yellow rays, 3 toothed at the apex, and the
disk also is yellow.
Description of Root--Elecampane has a large, long, branching root,
pale yellow on the outside and whitish and fleshy within. When dry
the outside turns a grayish brown or dark brown, and is generally
finely wrinkled lengthwise. As found in commerce, elecampane is
usually in transverse or lengthwise slices, light yellow or grayish
and fleshy internally, dotted with numerous shining resin cells, and
with overlapping brown or wrinkled bark. These slices become flexible
in damp weather and tough, but when they are dry they break with a
short fracture. The root has at first a strongly aromatic odor, which
has been described by some as resembling a violet odor, but this
diminished in drying. The taste is aromatic, bitterish and pungent.
Collection, Prices, and Uses--The best time for collecting elecampane
is in the fall of the second year. If collected later than that the
roots are apt to be stringy and woody. Owing to the interlacing habit
of the rootlets, much dirt adheres to the root, but it should be well
cleaned, cut into transverse or lengthwise slices, and carefully
dried in the shade. Collectors receive from 3 to 5 cents a pound for
this root.
Elecampane, which was official in the United States Pharmacopeia of
1890, is much used in affections of the respiratory organs, in
digestive and liver disorders, catarrhal discharges and skin
diseases.
Queen-of-the-Meadow.
Eupatorium Purpureum.
Other Common Names--Gravelroot, Indian gravelroot, joe-pye-weed,
purple boneset, tall boneset, kidney root, king-of-the-meadow,
marsh-milkweed, motherwort, niggerweed, quillwort, slunkweed,
trumpetweed.
Habitat and Range--This common native perennial herb occurs in low
grounds and dry woods and meadows from Canada to Florida and Texas.
Description of Plant--The stout, erect, green or purple stem of
this plant grows from 3 to 10 feet in height and is usually smooth,
simple or branched at the top. The thin, veiny leaves are 4 to
12 inches long, 1 to 3 inches wide, ovate or ovate lance shaped,
sharp pointed, toothed and placed around the stem in whorls of three
to six. While the upper surface of the leaves is smooth, there is
usually a slight hairiness along the veins on the lower surface,
otherwise smooth. Toward the latter part of the summer and in early
fall queen-of-the-meadow is in flower, producing 5 to 15 flowered
pink or purplish heads, all aggregated in large compound clusters
which present a rather showy appearance. This plant belongs to the
aster family (Asteraceae).
[Illustration: Queen-of-the-Meadow (Eupatorium Purpureum).]
Another species which is collected with this and for similar
purposes, and by some regarded as only a variety, is the spotted
boneset or spotted joe-pye-weed (Eupatorium maculatum L.) This is
very similar to E. purpureum, but it does not grow so tall, is
rough-hairy and has the stem spotted with purple. The thicker leaves
are coarsely toothed and in whorls of three to five and the flower
clusters are flattened at the top rather than elongated as in E.
purpureum.
It is found in moist soil from New York to Kentucky, westward to
Kansas, New Mexico, Minnesota, and as far up as British Columbia.
Description of Root--Queen-of-meadow root, as it occurs in commerce,
is blackish and woody, furnished with numerous long dark-brown
fibers, which are furrowed or wrinkled lengthwise and whitish within.
It has a bitter, aromatic and astringent taste.
Collection, Prices and Uses--The root is collected in autumn and is
used for its astringent and diuretic properties. It was official in
the United States Pharmacopeia from 1820 to 1840. The price ranges
from 2 1/2 to 4 cents a pound.