base of the plant, are rather oddly formed. They are about 3 to 6 inches
long, 2 to 4 inches wide, heart shaped or kidney shaped, but parted
lengthwise into two lobes or divisions, really giving the appearance of
two leaves; hence the common name “twinleaf.” The flower with its eight
oblong, spreading white petals measures about 1 inch across, and is
borne at the summit of a slender stalk arising from the root. The
many-seeded capsule is about 1 inch long, leathery, somewhat pear
shaped, and opening halfway around near the top, the upper part forming
a sort of lid. (Fig. 13.) Twinleaf belongs to the barberry family
(Berberidaceæ).
_Description of rootstock._—Twinleaf has a horizontal rootstock, with
many fibrous, much-matted roots, and is very similar to that of blue
cohosh, but not so long. It is thick, knotty, yellowish brown
externally, with a resinous bark, and internally yellowish. The inner
portion is nearly tasteless, but the bark has a bitter and acrid taste.
_Collection, prices, and uses._—The rootstock is collected in autumn,
and is used as a diuretic, alterative, antispasmodic, and a stimulating
diaphoretic. Large doses are said to be emetic and smaller doses tonic
and expectorant. The price paid for twinleaf root ranges from about 5 to
7 cents a pound.
MAY-APPLE.
_Podophyllum peltatum_ L.
_Pharmacopœial name._—Podophyllum.
_Other common names._—Mandrake, wild mandrake, American mandrake, wild
lemon, ground-lemon, hog-apple, devil’s-apple, Indian apple,
raccoon-berry, duck’s-foot, umbrella-plant, vegetable calomel.
_Habitat and range._—The May-apple is an indigenous plant, found in low
woods, usually growing in patches, from western Quebec to Minnesota,
south to Florida and Texas.
_Description of plant._—A patch of May-apple can be distinguished from
afar, the smooth, dark-green foliage and close and even stand making it
a conspicuous feature of the woodland vegetation.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.—May-apple (_Podophyllum peltatum_), upper
portion of plant with flower, and rootstock.]
May-apple is a perennial plant, and belongs to the barberry family
(Berberidaceæ). It is erect, and grows about 1 foot in height. The
leaves are only two in number, circular in outline, but with five to
seven deep lobes, the lobes 2 cleft, and toothed at the apex; they are
dark green above, the lower surface lighter green and somewhat hairy or
smooth, sometimes 1 foot in diameter, and borne on long leafstalks which
are fixed to the center of the leaf, giving it an umbrella-like
appearance. The waxy-white, solitary flower, sometimes 2 inches in
diameter, appears in May, nodding on its short stout stalk, generally
right between the two large umbrella-like leaves, which shade it and
hide it from view. (Fig. 14.) The fruit which follows is lemon shaped,
at first green, then yellow, about 2 inches in length, and edible,
although when eaten immoderately it is known to have produced bad
effects.
In a patch of May-apple plants there are always a number of sterile or
flowerless stalks, which bear leaves similar to those of the flowering
plants.
_Description of rootstock._—The horizontally creeping rootstock of
May-apple (fig. 14), when taken from the ground, is from 1 to 6 feet or
more in length, flexible, smooth, and round, dark brown on the outside
and whitish and fleshy within; at intervals of a few inches are
thickened joints, on the upper surface of which are round stem scars and
on the lower side a tuft of rather stout roots. Sometimes the rootstock
bears lateral branches. The dried rootstock, as it occurs in the stores,
is in irregular, somewhat cylindrical pieces, smooth or somewhat
wrinkled, yellowish brown or dark brown externally, whitish to pale
brown internally, breaking with a short, sharp fracture, the surface of
which is mealy. The odor is slight and the taste at first sweetish,
becoming very bitter and acrid.
_Collection, prices, and uses._—The proper time for collecting the
rootstock is in the latter half of September or in October. The price
paid for May-apple root ranges from 3 to 6 cents a pound.
May-apple root, which is recognized as official in the United States
Pharmacopœia, is an active cathartic, and was known as such to the
Indians.
CANADA MOONSEED.
_Menispermum canadense_ L.
_Other common names._—Menispermum, yellow parilla, Texas sarsaparilla,
yellow sarsaparilla, vine-maple. (Pl. IV, fig. 3.)
_Habitat and range._—Canada moonseed is usually found along streams in
woods, climbing over bushes, its range extending from Canada to Georgia
and Arkansas.
_Description of plant._—This native perennial woody climber reaches a
length of from 6 to 12 feet, the round, rather slender stem bearing very
broad, slender-stalked leaves. These leaves are from 4 to 8 inches wide,
smooth and green on the upper surface and paler beneath, roundish in
outline and entire, or sometimes lobed and resembling the leaves of some
of our maples, whence the common name “vine-maple” is probably derived.
The bases of the leaves are generally heart shaped and the apex pointed
or blunt. In July the loose clusters of small yellowish or greenish
white flowers are produced, followed in September by bunches of black
one-seeded fruit, covered with a “bloom” and very much resembling
grapes. Canada moonseed belongs to the moonseed family (Menispermaceæ).
_Description of rootstock._—The rootstock and roots are employed in
medicine. In the stores it will be found in long, straight pieces,
sometimes 3 feet in length, only about one-fourth of an inch in
thickness, yellowish brown or grayish brown, finely wrinkled lengthwise,
and giving off fine, hairlike, branched, brownish roots from joints
which occur every inch or so. The inside shows a distinct white pith of
variable thickness and a yellowish white wood with broad, porous wood
rays, the whole breaking with a tough, woody fracture. It has
practically no odor, but a bitter taste.
_Collection, prices, and uses._—Canada moonseed is collected in autumn,
and brings from 4 to 8 cents a pound. It is used as a tonic, alterative,
and diuretic, and was official in the United States Pharmacopœia for
1890.
BLOODROOT.
_Sanguinaria canadensis_ L.
_Pharmacopœial name._—Sanguinaria.
_Other common names._—Redroot, red puccoon, red Indian-paint,
puccoon-root, coonroot, white puccoon, pauson, snakebite, sweet-slumber,
tetterwort, turmeric.
_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 Papaveraceæ. Each bud on the
thick, horizontal rootstock produces but a single leaf and a flowering
scape, reaching about 6 inches in height (fig. 15). 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 ½ to 1 inch in thickness, externally reddish brown,
internally a bright-red blood color, and produces many thick,
orange-colored rootlets. (Fig. 15.)
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.—Bloodroot (_Sanguinaria canadensis_), flowering
plant with rootstock.]
_Collection, prices, and uses._—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 activity. The price paid to collectors for this
root ranges from about 5 to 10 cents a 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 Pharmacopœia, and is used as a
tonic, alterative, stimulant, and emetic.
HYDRANGEA.
_Hydrangea arborescens_ L.
_Other common names._—Wild hydrangea, seven-barks.
_Habitat and range._—Hydrangea frequents rocky river banks and ravines
from the southern part of New York to Florida, and westward to Iowa and
Missouri, being especially abundant in the valley of the Delaware and
southward.
_Description of plant._—Hydrangea is an indigenous shrub, 5 to 6 feet or
more in height, with weak twigs, slender leaf stems and thin leaves. It
belongs to the hydrangea family (Hydrangeaceæ). The leaves are oval or
sometimes heart shaped, 3 to 6 inches long, sharply toothed, green on
both sides, the upper smooth and the lower sometimes hairy. The shrub is
in flower from June to July, producing loose, branching, terminal heads
of small, greenish white flowers, followed by membranous, usually
2-celled capsules, which contain numerous seeds. (Pl. IV, fig. 4.)
Sometimes hydrangea will flower a second time, early in fall.
A peculiar characteristic of this shrub, and one that has given rise to
the common name “seven-barks,” is the peeling off of the stem bark,
which comes off in several successive layers of thin, different colored
bark.
_Description of root._—The root is roughly branched and when first taken
from the ground is very juicy, but after drying it becomes hard. The
smooth white and tough wood is covered with a thin, pale-yellow or
light-brown bark, which readily scales off. The wood is tasteless, but
the bark has a pleasant aromatic taste, becoming somewhat pungent.
_Collection, prices, and uses._—Hydrangea root is collected in autumn,
and as it becomes very tough after drying and difficult to bruise it is
best to cut the root in short transverse pieces while it is fresh and
still juicy and dry it in this way. The price ranges from 2 to 7 cents a
pound.
Hydrangea has diuretic properties and is said to have been much used by
the Cherokees and early settlers in calculous complaints.
INDIAN-PHYSIC.
_Porteranthus trifoliatus_ (L.) Britton.
_Synonym._—_Gillenia trifoliata_ Moench.
_Other common names._—Gillenia, 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 (Rosaceæ) 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 or pinkish flowers are
few, produced in loose terminal clusters from May to July. (Pl. V, fig.
1.) 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_.
_Porteranthus stipulatus_ (Muhl.) Britton (Syn. _Gillenia stipulacea_
Nutt.) is found in similar situations as _P. trifoliatus_, but generally
farther west, its range extending from western New York to Indiana and
Kansas, south to Alabama, Louisiana, and Indian Territory. The general
appearance of this plant is very similar to that of _P. trifoliatus_. It
grows to about the same height, but is generally more hairy, the
leaflets narrower and more deeply toothed, and the flowers perhaps a
trifle smaller. The stipules, however, will generally serve to
distinguish it. These are large, broad, ovate, acute at the apex,
sharply and deeply notched, and so much like leaves that but for their
position at the base of the leaf stems they might easily be mistaken for
them.
With the exception of the name American ipecac applied to this plant,
the common names of _Porteranthus trifoliatus_ are also used for _P.
stipulatus_. The roots of both species are collected and used for the
same purposes.
_Description of roots._—The root of _Porteranthus trifoliatus_ is thick
and knotty, with many smoothish, reddish brown rootlets (Pl. V, fig. 1),
the latter in drying becoming wrinkled lengthwise and showing a few
transverse fissures or breaks in the bark, and the interior white and
woody. There is practically no odor, and the woody portion is tasteless,
but the bark, which is readily separable, is bitter, increasing the flow
of saliva.
_Porteranthus stipulatus_ has a larger, more knotty root, with rootlets
that are more wavy, constricted, or marked with numerous transverse
rings, and the bark fissured or breaking from the white woody portion at
frequent intervals.
_Collection, prices, and uses._—The roots of both species are collected
in autumn. The price ranges from 2 to 4 cents a pound.
Indian-physic or bowman’s root, as these names imply, was a popular
remedy with the Indians, who used it as an emetic. From them the white
settlers learned of its properties, and it is still used for its emetic
action. This drug was at one time official in the United States
Pharmacopœia, from 1820 to 1880. Its action is said to resemble that of
ipecac.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.—Wild indigo (_Baptisia tinctoria_), branch
showing flowers and seed pods. (Modified from Barton’s Vegetable Materia
Medica.)]
WILD INDIGO.
_Baptisia tinctoria_ (L.) R. Br.
_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 cloverlike
blossoms and leaves will show at once that it belongs to the same family
as the common clover, namely, the pea family (Fabaceæ). 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. (Fig. 16.)
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, wartlike 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 the 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.
CRANE’S-BILL.
_Geranium maculatum_ L.
_Pharmacopœial name._—Geranium.
_Other common names._—Spotted crane’s-bill, wild crane’s-bill,
stork’s-bill, spotted geranium, wild geranium, alumroot, alumbloom,
chocolate-flower, crowfoot, dovefoot, old-maid’s-nightcap, shameface.
_Habitat and range._—Crane’s-bill flourishes in low grounds and open
woods from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Georgia and Missouri.
_Description of plant._—This pretty perennial plant belongs to the
geranium family (Geraniaceæ), and will grow sometimes to a height of 2
feet, but more generally it is only about a foot in height. The entire
plant is more or less covered with hairs, and is erect and usually
unbranched. The leaves are nearly circular or somewhat heart shaped in
outline, 3 to 6 inches wide, deeply parted into three or five parts,
each division again cleft and toothed. The basal leaves are borne on
long stems, while those above have shorter stems. The flowers, which
appear from April to June, are borne in a loose cluster; they are rose
purple, pale or violet purple in color, about 1 inch or 1½ inches wide,
the petals delicately veined and woolly at the base, and the sepals or
calyx lobes with a bristle-shaped point, soft-hairy, the margins having
a fringe of more bristly hairs. The fruit consists of a beaked capsule,
springing open elastically, and dividing into five cells, each cell
containing one seed. (Fig. 17.)
_Description of rootstock._—When removed from the earth, the rootstock
of crane’s-bill (fig. 17) 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.—Crane’s-bill (_Geranium maculatum_), flowering
plant, showing also seed pods and rootstock.]
_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
period, 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 Pharmacopœia,
is used as a tonic and astringent.
SENECA SNAKEROOT.
_Polygala senega_ L.
_Pharmacopœial 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 lowermost
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. (Fig. 18.) 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 (Polygalaceæ).
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: FIG. 18.—Seneca snakeroot (_Polygala senega_), flowering
plant with root.]
_Description of root._—Seneca snakeroot (fig. 18) is described in the
United States Pharmacopœia 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.