Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants Part 19

Blue Cohosh, official in the United States Pharmacopoeia for 1890, is used as a demulcent, antispasmodic, emmenagogue and diuretic.

CHAPTER XXII.

SNAKEROOT--CANADA AND VIRGINIA.

Canada Snakeroot.

Asarum Canadense L.

Other Common Names--Asarum, wild ginger, Indian ginger, Vermont snakeroot, heart-snakeroot, southern snakeroot, black snakeroot, colt's-foot, snakeroot, black snakeweed, broadleaved asarabacca, false colt's-foot, cat's foot, colicroot.

Habitat and Range--This inconspicuous little plant frequents rich woods or rich soil along road sides from Canada south to North Carolina and Kansas.

Description of Plant--Canada snakeroot is a small, apparently stemless perennial, not more than 6 to 12 inches in height, and belongs to the birthwort family (Aristolochaceae). It usually has but two leaves which are borne on slender, finely hairy stems; they are kidney shaped or heart shaped, thin, dark green above and paler green on the lower surface, strongly veined, and from 4 to 7 inches broad.

The solitary bell-shaped flower is of an una.s.suming dull brown or brownish purple and this modest color, together with its position on the plant, renders it so inconspicuous as to escape the notice of the casual observer. It droops from a short, slender stalk produced between the two leaf stems and is almost hidden under the two leaves, growing so close to the ground that it is sometimes buried beneath old leaves, and sometimes the soil must be removed before the flower can be seen. It is bell shaped, wooly, the inside darker in color than the outside and of a satiny texture. The fruit which follows is in the form of a leathery 6-celled capsule.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Canada Snakeroot (Asarum Canadense).]

Description of Rootstock--Canada snakeroot has a creeping, yellowish rootstock, slightly jointed, with this rootlets produced from joints which occur about every half inch or so. In the drug trade the rootstock is usually found in pieces a few inches in length and about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. These are four-angled, crooked, brownish and wrinkled on the outside, whitish inside and showing a large central pith, hard and brittle and breaking with a short fracture. The odor is fragrant and the taste spicy and aromatic, and has been said to be intermediate between ginger and serpentaria.

Collection, Prices and Uses--The aromatic root of Canada snakeroot is collected in autumn and the price ranges from 10 to 15 cents a pound.

It was reported as very scarce in the latter part of the summer of 1906. Canada Snakeroot, which was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1880, is used as an aromatic, diaph.o.r.etic and carminative.

Serpentaria.

(1) Aristolochia serpentaris L. and (2) Aristolochia reticulata Nutt.

Pharmacopoeial Name--Serpentaria.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Verginia Serpentaria (Aristolochia serpentaris).]

Other Common Names--(1) Virginia serpentaria, Virginia snakeroot, serpentary, snakeweed, pelican-flower, snagrel, sangrel, sangree-root; (2) Texas serpentaria, Texas snakeroot, Red River snakeroot.

Habitat and Range--Virginia serpentaria is found in rich woods from Connecticut to Michigan and southward, princ.i.p.ally along the Alleghenies, and Texas serpentaria occurs in the Southwestern States, growing along river banks from Arkansas to Louisiana.

Description of Virginia Serpentaria--About midsummer the queerly shaped flowers of this native perennial are produced. They are very similar to those of the better known "Dutchman's-pipe," another species of this genus, which is quite extensively grown as an ornamental vine for covering porches and trellises. Virginia serpentaria and Texas serpentaria both belong to the birth wort family (Aristolochiaceae). The Virginia serpentaria is nearly erect, the slender, wavy stem sparingly branched near the base, and usually growing to about a foot in height, sometimes, however, even reaching 3 feet. The leaves are thin, ovate, ovate lance shaped or oblong lance shaped, and usually heart shaped at the base; they are about 2 1/2 inches long and about 1 or 1 1/2 inches in width. The flowers are produced from near the base of the plant, similar to its near relative, the Canada snakeroot. They are solitary and terminal, borne on slender, scaly branches, dull brownish purple in color, and of a somewhat leathery texture; the calyx tube is curiously bent or contorted in the shape of the letter S. The fruit is a roundish 6-celled capsule, about half an inch in diameter and containing numerous seeds.

Description of Texas Serpentaria--This species has a very wavy stem, with oval, heart-shaped, clasping leaves, which are rather thick and strongly reticulated or marked with a network of veins; hence the specific name reticulata. The entire plant is hairy, with numerous long, coa.r.s.e hairs. The small, densely hairy purplish flowers are also produced from the base of the plant.

Description of Rootstock--Serpentaria has a short rootstock with many thin, branching, fibrous roots. In the dried state it is thin and bent, the short remains of stems showing on the upper surface and the under surface having numerous thin roots about 4 inches in length, all of a dull yellowish brown color, internally white. It has a very agreeable aromatic odor, somewhat like camphor, and the taste is described as warm, bitterish and camphoraceous.

The Texas serpentaria has a larger rootstock, with fewer roots less interlaced than the Virginia serpentaria.

Collection, Prices and Uses--The roots of serpentaria are collected in autumn. Various other roots are sometimes mixed with serpentaria, but as they are mostly high-priced drugs, such as golden seal, pinkroot, senega and ginseng, their presence in a lot of serpentaria is probably accidental, due simply to proximity of growth of these plants. Abscess-root (Polemonium Reptans L.) is another root with which serpentaria is often adulterated. It is very similar to serpentaria, except that it is nearly white. The price of serpentaria ranges from 35 to 40 cents a pound.

Serpentaria is used for its stimulant, tonic, and diaph.o.r.etic properties. Both species are official in the United States Pharmacopoeia.

CHAPTER XXIII.

POKEWEED.

Phytolacca Decandra L. a.

Synonym--Phytolacca Americana (L). a.

Pharmacopoeial Name--Phytolacca.

Other Common Names--Poke, pigeon-berry, garget, sc.o.ke, pocan, coak.u.m, Virginia poke, inkberry, red inkberry, American nightshade, cancer-jalap, redweed.

Habitat and Range--Pokeweed, a common, familiar, native weed, is found in rich, moist soil along fence rows, fields, and uncultivated land from the New England States to Minnesota south to Florida and Texas.

Description of Plant--In Europe, where pokeweed has become naturalized from his country, it is regarded as an ornamental garden plant, and, indeed, it is very showy and attractive with its reddish purple stems, rich green foliage, and cl.u.s.ters of white flowers and dark-purple berries.

The stout, smooth stems, arising from a very large perennial root, attain a height of from 3 to 9 feet and are erect and branched, green at first, then reddish. If a piece of the stem is examined, the pith will be seen to be divided into disk-shaped parts with hollow s.p.a.ces between them. The smooth leaves are borne on short stems and are about 5 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide, ovate or ovate oblong, acute at the apex, and the margins entire. The long-stalked cl.u.s.ters of whitish flowers, which appear from July to September are from 3 to 4 inches in length, the flowers numerous and borne on reddish stems.

In about two months the berries will have matured and a.s.sumed a rich dark-purple color. These smooth and s.h.i.+ning purple berries are globular, flattened at both ends, and contain black seeds embedded in a rich crimson juice. This plant belongs to the pokeweed family (Phytolaccaceae).

a. Phytolacca Americana L. by right of priority should be accepted but P. Decandra L. is used in conformity with the Pharmacopoeia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pokeweed (Phytolacca Decandra), Flowering and Fruiting Branch.]

Description of Root--Pokeweed has a very thick, long, fleshy root, conical in shape and branches very much resembling that of horseradish and poisonous. In commerce it usually occurs in transverse or lengthwise slices, the outside a yellowish brown and finely wrinkled lengthwise and thickly encircled with lighter colored ridges. It breaks with a fibrous fracture and is yellowish gray within. The transverse slices show many concentric rings. There is a slight odor and the taste is sweetish and acrid. The root when powdered causes sneezing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pokeweek Root.]

Collection, Prices and Uses--The root of the Pokeweed, which is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, is collected in the latter part of autumn, thoroughly cleaned, cut into a transverse or lengthwise slices, and carefully dried. It brings from 2 1/2 to 4 cents a pound.

The root is used for its alterative properties in treating various diseases of the skin and blood, and in certain cases in relieving pain and allaying inflammation. It also acts upon the bowels and causes vomiting.

The berries when fully matured are also used in medicine.

The young and tender shoots of the pokeweed are eaten in spring, like asparagus, but bad results may follow if they are not thoroughly cooked or if they are cut too close to the root.

CHAPTER XXIV.

MAY-APPLE.

Podophyllum Peltatum L.

Pharmacopoeial Name--Podophyllum.