Part 11

Description of rootstock.—The rootstock (fig. 12) is large, horizontal, and knotty or rough and irregular in appearance. The upper surface of the rootstock is covered with numerous round scars and stumps, the remains of former leaf stems, and on the fresh rootstocks may be seen the young, pinkish white buds which are to furnish the next season’s growth. From the lower part of the rootstock long, fleshy roots are produced. The fresh rootstock is very dark reddish brown on the outside, white within, showing a large central pith from which radiate rays of a woody texture, and on breaking the larger roots also the woody rays will be seen in the form of a cross. On drying, the rootstock becomes hard and turns much darker, both internally and externally, but the peculiar cross formation of the woody rays in both rootstock and roots, being lighter in color, is plainly seen without the aid of a magnifying glass. The roots in drying become wiry and brittle and break off very readily. Black cohosh has a heavy odor and a bitter, acrid taste.

Collection, prices, and uses.—The root should be collected after the fruit has ripened, usually in September. The price ranges from 2 to 3 cents a pound.

The Indians had long regarded black cohosh as a valuable medicinal plant, not only for the treatment of snake bites, but it was also a very popular remedy among their women, and it is to-day considered of value as an alterative, emmenagogue, and sedative, and is recognized as official in the United States Pharmacopœia.

OREGON GRAPE.

Berberis aquifolium Pursh.

Pharmacopœial name.—Berberis.

Other common names.—Rocky Mountain grape, holly-leaved barberry, California barberry, trailing Mahonia.

Habitat and range.—This shrub is native in woods in rich soil among rocks from Colorado to the Pacific Ocean, but it is especially abundant in Oregon and northern California.

Description of plant.—Oregon grape is a low-growing shrub, resembling somewhat the familiar Christmas holly of the Eastern States, and, in fact, was first designated as “mountain-holly” by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition on their way through the western country. It belongs to the barberry family (Berberidaceæ), and grows about 2 to 6 feet in height, the branches sometimes trailing. The leaves consist of from 5 to 9 leaflets, borne in pairs, with an odd leaflet at the summit. They are from 2 to 3 inches long and about 1 inch wide, evergreen, thick, leathery, oblong or oblong ovate in outline, smooth and shining above, the margins provided with thorny spines or teeth. The numerous small yellow flowers appear in April or May and are borne in erect, clustered heads. The fruit consists of a cluster of blue or bluish purple berries, having a pleasant taste, and each containing from three to nine seeds. (Pl. IV, fig. 1.)

Other species.—While Berberis aquifolium is generally designated as the source of Oregon grape root, other species of Berberis are met with in the market under the name grape root, and their use is sanctioned by the United States Pharmacopœia.

The species most commonly collected with Berberis aquifolium is B. nervosa Pursh, which is also found in woods from California northward to Oregon and Washington. This is 9 to 16 inches in height, with a conspicuously jointed stem and 11 to 17 bright-green leaflets.

Another species of Berberis, B. pinnata Lag., attains a height of from a few inches to 5 feet, with from 5 to 9, but sometimes more, leaflets, which are shining above and paler beneath. This resembles aquifolium very closely and is often mistaken for it, but it is said that it has not been used by the medical profession, unless in local practice. The root also is about the same size as that of aquifolium, while the root of nervosa is smaller.

Some works speak of Berberis repens Lindl. as another species often collected with aquifolium, but in the latest botanical manuals no such species is recognized, B. repens being given simply as a synonym for B. aquifolium.

Description of rootstock.—The rootstock and roots of Oregon grape are more or less knotty, in irregular pieces of varying lengths, and about an inch or less in diameter, with brownish bark and hard and tough yellow wood, showing a small pith and narrow rays. Oregon grape root has a very bitter taste and very slight odor.

Collection, prices, and uses.—Oregon grape root is collected in autumn and brings from 10 to 12 cents a pound. The bark should not be removed from the rootstocks, as the Pharmacopœia directs that such roots be rejected.

This root has long been used in domestic practice throughout the West as a tonic and blood purifier, and is now official in the United States Pharmacopœia.

The berries are used in making preserves and cooling drinks.

BLUE COHOSH.

Caulophyllum thalictroides (L.) Michx.

Other common names.—Caulophyllum, pappoose-root, squawroot, blueberry-root, blue ginseng, yellow ginseng. (Pl. IV, fig. 2.)

Habitat and range.—Blue cohosh is found in the deep rich loam of shady woods from New Brunswick to South Carolina, westward to Nebraska, being abundant especially throughout the Allegheny Mountain region.

Description of plant.—This member of the barberry family (Berberidaceæ) is a perennial herb, 1 to 3 feet in height, and indigenous to this country. It bears at the top one large, almost stemless leaf, which is triternately compound—that is, the main leaf stem divides into three stems, which again divide into threes, and each division bears three leaflets. Sometimes there is a smaller leaf, but similar to the other, at the base of the flowering branch. The leaflets are thin in texture, oval, oblong, or obovate, and 3 to 5 lobed.

In the early stage of its growth this plant is covered with a sort of bluish green bloom, but it gradually loses this and becomes smooth. The flowers are borne in a small terminal panicle or head, and are small and greenish yellow. They appear from April to May, while the leaf is still small. The globular seeds, which ripen about August, are borne on stout stalks in membranous capsules and resemble dark-blue berries.

Description of rootstock.—The thick crooked rootstock of blue cohosh is almost concealed by the mass of matted roots which surrounds it. There are numerous cup-shaped scars and small branches on the upper surface of the rootstock, while the lower surface gives off numerous long, crooked, matted roots. Some of the scars are depressed below the surface of the rootstock, while others are raised above it. The outside is brownish and the inside tough and woody. Blue cohosh possesses a slight odor and a sweetish, somewhat bitter and acrid taste. In the powdered state it causes sneezing.

Collection, prices, and uses.—The root is dug in the fall. Very often the roots of goldenseal or twinleaf are found mixed with those of blue cohosh. The price of blue cohosh root ranges from 2½ to 4 cents a pound.

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

TWINLEAF.

Jeffersonia diphylla (L.) Pers.