Part 7

Salicin has tonic, antiperiodic, and febrifuge properties, and is occasionally employed in rheumatic affections.

The wood of white willow furnishes a very pure charcoal which is used in the manufacture of gunpowder. The young branches, known as osiers, are much used in the manufacture of baskets, etc.

The prices paid to collectors range from 2 to 5 cents a pound.

Other species.—Roughly speaking, the willows, or Salix species, may be said to be divided into two classes, those with yellowish twigs and those with reddish or purplish twigs. Most of the yellow-barked species belong to the “crack willows,” which have their twigs attached in such a manner that they break off very easily. It is claimed that the red or purple barked twigs contain the most salicin, while those with yellow twigs are richest in tannin.

Of those containing the most salicin may be mentioned the crack willow, or brittle willow (Salix fragilis L.). This, a native of Europe, has escaped from cultivation in this country, and occurs from Massachusetts to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is a tall and slender tree, the trunk covered with a rough gray bark, and the twigs with reddish green bark. At the point of attachment the twigs are very fragile and break off readily. The twigs when planted grow very rapidly. The leaves are 3 to 6 inches in length, long pointed and narrowing toward the base, smooth, dark green on the upper surface, and of a lighter color underneath, and with margins slightly toothed. The flowers appear in April or May; the fruiting catkin is rather loose and about 3 to 5 inches in length, while the staminate or male catkin is only about 1 or 2 inches long.

Another species employed in medicine is the black willow, pussy-willow, or swamp-willow (Salix nigra Marsh). This is a native willow and occurs along the banks of rivers from Canada to Florida; it is not found west of the Great Plains, except in southern New Mexico and Arizona and isolated in California. It is tall and has a rough dark brown or black bark, and brittle yellowish branches. The leaves are narrowly lance shaped, and the catkins (pussy-willows) appear about the same time as the leaves, the male catkins about 1 to 2 inches long, and the female catkins as long as 3 inches, spreading apart in fruit. The bark of this species is used in medicine and the fresh aments, or catkins, are also employed.

BAYBERRY.

Myrica cerifera L.

Other common names.—Wax-myrtle, candleberry, candleberry-myrtle, wax-berry, tallow-bayberry, tallow-shrub, bayberry wax-tree, American vegetable tallow-tree, vegetable-tallow, American vegetable-wax.

Habitat and range.—The bayberry, which is indigenous, is found in sandy swamps or wet woods from Texas and Florida northward to Arkansas and along the coast of Maryland. In its southern home it is a small evergreen tree, but as it goes farther north it becomes, successively, a tall semideciduous shrub or a dwarfed and deciduous shrub.

Description of tree.—The greatest height attained by the bayberry is about 40 feet, but it is usually only 3 to 12 feet high. It is slender, with a gray, smoothish bark. The leaves, when crushed, have a fragrant odor, and are 1 to 4 inches long, narrow, dark green and shining above, lighter colored and dotted with resin cells beneath, and generally with margins entire (fig. 5).

The flowers appear from about March to May, according to locality, and generally before the leaves are fully expanded. They are borne in aments, or spikelike clusters, the male and female flowers being produced on separate trees. The yellowish aments bearing the staminate or male flowers are cylindrical, while the pistillate or female aments are oblong, shorter than the staminate, and greenish. The fruit, which remains on the tree for several years, consists of clusters of round, bluish white berries having a granulated appearance and covered with a greenish white wax (fig. 5). Each berry contains one seed. The bayberry belongs to the bayberry family (Myricaceæ).

Description of bark.—As found in commerce, bayberry bark occurs in curved or quilled pieces, sometimes only about an inch in length and sometimes 6 inches or more. The outside is covered with a thin corky layer, which is whitish and somewhat fissured. Underneath this layer the dark reddish brown, smooth bark may be seen. The inner surface of the bark is also reddish brown, but marked with faint lines. The fracture is light red and granular. The bark, when powdered, has a pungent, aromatic odor, causing sneezing and coughing, and the taste is bitter, pungent, and acrid.

Collection, prices, and uses.—Late autumn is the best time to collect this root, and after it has been thoroughly cleaned and while still fresh the bark is loosened and removed by beating the root with a mallet or similar instrument.

Bayberry bark brings from 2 to 5 cents a pound. It is used for its tonic and astringent properties.

The wax obtained from the berries is used for making candles.

BUTTERNUT.

Juglans cinerea L.

Other common names.—Juglans, white walnut, lemon-walnut, oilnut.

Habitat and range.—The butternut tree, which is indigenous to this country, is of common occurrence in rich woods from New Brunswick to North Dakota and south to Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

Description of tree.—This much-branched tree, belonging to the walnut family (Juglandaceæ), is generally from 30 to 50 feet in height, rarely exceeding 100 feet, and when old has a thick, rough, brownish gray, furrowed bark (fig. 6), and the twigs, leaf stems, and leaflets, especially in the early stages of growth, are furnished with sticky hairs.

The yellowish green leaves are composed of from 11 to 19 leaflets, all stemless except the terminal one; the leaflets are 2 to 3 inches long, oblong lance shaped and long pointed at the apex, rounded or blunt at the base, and toothed. The flowers are produced in May, or about the same time as the leaves, the yellowish green male catkins 3 to 5 inches in length, and the female flowers in clusters of 6 to 8 flowers each. In October the sweet and oily oblong nut matures, enveloped in a strong-smelling, sticky husk. The edible nut itself has a thick, hard shell, which is marked with deep furrows or lines.

Description of bark.—Butternut bark, from the root collected in autumn, was official in the United States Pharmacopœia for 1890. It occurs in quilled pieces varying in length, and about an eighth of an inch or a trifle more in thickness, deep brown and smoothish or somewhat scaly on the outside, the inner surface likewise brown and with parts of the thin, stringy inner layer of the bark attached. It breaks with a short, fibrous fracture, finely checkered with white and brown. The odor is faint, and the taste bitter and acrid.

Collection, prices, and uses.—Butternut bark, which will bring the collector from 1 to 4 cents a pound, is taken from the root collected in autumn. Its use in medicine is that of a mild cathartic and tonic.

IRONWOOD.

Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch.

Synonym.—Carpinus virginiana Mill.

Other common names.—Hop-hornbeam, deerwood, leverwood, black hazel, Indian cedar.