Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants Part 22

Collection, Prices and Uses--The best time for collecting Male-fern root is from July to September. The root should be carefully cleaned, but not washed, dried out of doors in the shade as quickly as possible, and s.h.i.+pped to druggists at once. The United States Pharmacopoeia directs that "the chaff, together with the dead portions of the rhizome and stipes, should be removed, and only such portions used as have retained their internal green color."

Great care is necessary in the preservation of this drug in order to prevent it from deteriorating. If kept too long its activity will be impaired, and it is said that it will retain its qualities much longer if it is not peeled until required for use. The unreliability sometimes attributed to this drug can in most instances be traced to the presence of the rootstocks of other ferns with which it is often adulterated, or it will be found to be due to improper storing or to the length of time that it has been kept.

The prices paid for Male-fern root range from 5 to 10 cents a pound.

Male-fern, official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, has been used since the remotest times as a remedy for worms.

Grave results are sometimes caused by overdoses.

Goldthread.

Coptis Trifolia (L.) Salisb.

Other Common Names--Coptis, cankerroot, mouthroot, yellowroot.

Habitat and Range--This pretty little perennial is native in damp, mossy woods and bogs from Canada and Alaska south of Maryland and Minnesota. It is most common in the New England States, northern New York and Michigan, and in Canada, where it frequents the dark sphagnum swamps, cold bogs and in the shade of dense forests of cedars, pines and other evergreens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Goldthread (Coptis Trifolia).]

Description of Plant--Any one familiar with this attractive little plant will agree that it is well named. The roots of Goldthread, running not far beneath the surface of the ground, are indeed like so many tangled threads of gold. The plant in the general appearance of its leaves and flowers very closely resembles the strawberry plant.

It is of low growth, only 3 to 6 inches in height, and belongs to the crowfoot family (Ranunculaceae). The leaves are all basal, and are borne on long, slender stems; they are evergreen, dark green and s.h.i.+ning on the upper surface and lighter green beneath, divided into three parts, which are prominently veined and toothed. A single small, white, star-shaped flower is borne at the ends of the flowering stalks, appearing from May to August. The 5 to 7 sepals or lobes of the calyx are white and like petals, and the petals of the corolla, 5 to 7 in number, are smaller, club shaped, and yellow at the base. The seed pods are stalked, oblong, compressed, spreading, tipped with persistent style and containing small black seeds.

Description of Root--Goldthread has a long, slender, creeping root, which is much branched and frequently matted. The color of these roots is a bright golden yellow. As found in the stores, Goldthread consists usually of tangled ma.s.ses of these golden-yellow roots, mixed with the leaves and stems of the plant, but the root is the part prescribed for use. The root is bitter and has no odor.

Collection, Prices and Uses--The time for collecting Goldthread is in autumn. After removing the covering of dead leaves and moss, the creeping yellow roots of Goldthread will be seen very close to the surface of the ground, from which they can be easily pulled. They should, of course, be carefully dried. As already stated, altho the roots and rootlets are the parts to be used, the commercial article is freely mixed with the leaves and stems of the plant. Evidences of the pine-woods home of this plant, in the form of pine needles and bits of moss, are often seen in the Goldthread received for market.

Goldthread brings from 60 to 70 cents a pound.

The Indians and early white settlers used this little root as a remedy for various forms of ulcerated and sore mouth, and it is still used as a wash or gargle for affections of this sort. It is also employed as a bitter tonic.

Goldthread was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1880.

Twinleaf.

Jeffersonia Diphylla (L.) Pers.

Other Common Names--Jeffersonia, rheumatism-root, helmetpod, ground-squirrel pea, yellowroot.

Habitat and Range--Twinleaf inhabits rich, shady woods from New York to Virginia and westward to Wisconsin.

Description of Plant--This native herbaceous perennial is only about 6 to 8 inches in height when in flower. At the fruiting stage it is frequently 18 inches in height. It is one of our early spring plants, and its white flower, resembling that of bloodroot, is produced as early as April.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla), Plant and Seed Capsule.]

The long-stemmed, smooth leaves, produced in pairs and arising from the 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 half way around near the top, the upper part forming a sort of lid. Twinleaf belongs to the barberry family. (Berberidaceae.)

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 diaph.o.r.etic. 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.

Canada Moonseed.

Menispermum Canadense L.

Other Common Names--Menispermum, yellow parilla, Texas sarsaparilla, yellow sarsarparilla, vine-maple.

Habitat and Range--Canada Moonseed is usually found along streams in woods, climbing over bushes, its range extending from Canada to Georgia and Arkansas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Canada Moonseed (Menispermum Canadense).]

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 cl.u.s.ters 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 (Menispermaceae.)

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 Pharmacopoeia for 1890.

Wild Turnip.

Synonym--Arum Triphyllum L.

Other Common Names--Arum, three-leaved arum, Indian turnip, jack-in-the-pulpit, wake robin, wild pepper, dragon-turnip, brown dragon, devil's-ear, marsh-turnip, swamp-turnip, meadow-turnip, pepper-turnip, starch-wort, bog-onion, priest's-pintle and lords-and-ladies.

Habitat and Range--Wild Turnip inhabits moist woods from Canada to Florida and westward to Kansas and Minnesota.

Description of Plant--Early in April the quaint green and brownish purple hooded flowers of the wild turnip may be seen in the shady depths of the woods.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Wild Turnip (Arisaema Triphyllum).]

It is a perennial plant belonging to the arum family (Araceae), and reaches a height of from 10 inches to 3 feet. The leaves, of which there are only one or two, unfold with the flowers; they are borne on long, erect, sheathing stalks, and consist of three smooth, oval leaflets, the latter are 3 to 6 inches long, and from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches wide, net veined, and with one vein running parallel with the margins. The "flower" is curiously formed, somewhat like the calla lily, consisting of what is known botanically as a spathe, within which is inclosed the spadix. The spathe is an oval, leaflike part, the lower portion of which, in the flower under consideration, is rolled together so as to form a tube, while the upper, pointed part is usually bent forward, thus forming a flap of hood over the tube shaped part which contains the spadix. In fact it is very similar to the familiar flower of the calla lily of the gardens, except that, instead of being white, the wild turnip is either all green or striped with very dark purple, sometimes seeming almost black, and in the calla lily the "flap" is turned back, whereas in the wild turnip it is bent forward over the tube. Inside of the spathe is the spadix, also green or purple, which is club shaped, rounded at the summit, and narrowly contracted at the base, where it is surrounded by either the male or female flowers or both, in the latter case (the most infrequent) the male flowers being placed below the female flowers.

In autumn the fruit ripens in the form of a bunch of bright scarlet, s.h.i.+ning berries. The entire plant is acrid, but the root more especially so.

Description of the Root--The underground portion of this plant is known botanically as a "corm," and is somewhat globular and shaped like a turnip. The lower part of the corm is flat and wrinkled, while the upper part is surrounded by coa.r.s.e, wavy rootlets. The outside is brownish gray and the inside white and mealy. It has no odor, but an intensely acrid, burning taste, and to those who may have been induced in their school days to taste of this root wild turnip will be familiar chiefly on account of its never-to-be-forgotten acrid, indeed, caustic, properties. The dried article of commerce consists of round, white slices, with brown edges, only slightly shrunken, and breaking with a starchy fracture.

Collection, Prices and Uses--The partially dried corm is used in medicine. It is dug in summer, transversely sliced, and dried. When first dug it is intensely acrid, but drying and heat diminish the acridity. It loses its acridity rapidly with age. Wild Turnip brings from 7 to 10 cents a pound.

The corm of Wild turnip, which was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1870, is used as a stimulant, diaph.o.r.etic, expectorant, and irritant.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THICKET PLANTS.

Black Indian Hemp.