Part 15

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.

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.

This drug, first brought into prominence as a cure for snake bite among the Indians, is now employed as an expectorant, emetic, and diuretic. It is official in the Pharmacopœia of the United States.

STILLINGIA.

Stillingia sylvatica L.

Pharmacopœial name.—Stillingia.

Other common names.—Queen’s-delight, queen’s-root, silverleaf, nettle-potato.

Habitat and range.—This plant is found in dry, sandy soil and in pine barrens from Maryland to Florida west to Kansas and Texas.

Description of plant.—Like most of the other members of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceæ) stillingia also contains a milky juice. This indigenous, herbaceous perennial is about 1 to 3 feet in height, bright green and somewhat fleshy, with crowded leaves of a somewhat leathery texture. The leaves are practically stemless and vary greatly in form, from lance shaped, oblong, to oval and elliptical, round toothed or saw toothed. The pale-yellow flowers, which appear from April to October, are borne in a dense terminal spike and consist of two kinds, male and female, the male flowers arranged in dense clusters around the upper part of the stalk and the female flowers occurring at the base of the spike. (Fig. 19.) The seeds are contained in a roundish 3-lobed capsule.

Description of root.—Stillingia consists of somewhat cylindrical or slenderly spindle-shaped roots from 6 inches to a foot in length, slightly branched, the yellowish white, porous wood covered with a rather thick, reddish brown, wrinkled bark, the whole breaking with a fibrous fracture. As found in commerce, stillingia is usually in short transverse sections, the ends of the sections pinkish and fuzzy with numerous fine, silky bast fibers, and the bark showing scattered yellowish brown resin cells and milk ducts. It has a peculiar unpleasant odor, and a bitter, acrid, and pungent taste.

Collection, prices, and uses.—Stillingia root is collected late in autumn or early in spring, usually cut into short, transverse sections and dried. The price ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound.

This root, which is official in the United States Pharmacopœia, has been a popular drug in the South for more than a century, and is employed principally as an alterative.

WILD SARSAPARILLA.

Aralia nudicaulis L.

Other common names.—False sarsaparilla, Virginian sarsaparilla, American sarsaparilla, small spikenard, rabbit’s-root, shotbush, wild licorice.

Habitat and range.—Wild sarsaparilla grows in rich, moist woods from Newfoundland west to Manitoba and south to North Carolina and Missouri.

Description of plant.—This native herbaceous perennial, belonging to the ginseng family (Araliaceæ), produces a single, long-stalked leaf and flowering stalk from a very short stem, both surrounded or sheathed at the base by thin, dry scales. The leafstalk is about 12 inches long, divided at the top into three parts, each division bearing five oval, toothed leaflets from 2 to 5 inches long, the veins on the lower surface sometimes hairy.

The naked flowering stalk bears three spreading clusters of small, greenish flowers, each cluster consisting of from 12 to 30 flowers, produced from May to June, followed later in the season by purplish black roundish berries, about the size of the common elderberries. (Pl. V, fig. 2.)

Description of rootstock.—Wild sarsaparilla rootstock has a very fragrant, aromatic odor. Rabbits are said to be very fond of it, whence one of the common names, “rabbit’s-root,” is derived. The rootstock is rather long, horizontally creeping, somewhat twisted, and yellowish brown on the outside. (Pl. V, fig. 2.) The taste is warm and aromatic. The dried rootstock is brownish gray and wrinkled lengthwise on the outside, about one-fourth of an inch in thickness, the inside whitish with a spongy pith. The taste is sweetish and somewhat aromatic.

Collection, prices, and uses.—The root of wild sarsaparilla is collected in autumn, and brings from 5 to 8 cents a pound.

This has long been a popular remedy, both among the Indians and in domestic practice, and was official in the United States Pharmacopœia from 1820 to 1880. Its use is that of an alterative, stimulant, and diaphoretic, and in this it resembles the official sarsaparilla obtained from tropical America.

Similar species.—The American spikenard (Aralia racemosa L.), known also as spignet, spiceberry, Indian-root, petty-morrel, life-of-man, and old-man’s-root, is employed like Aralia nudicaulis. It is distinguished from this by its taller, herbaceous habit, its much-branched stem from 3 to 6 feet high, and very large leaves consisting of thin, oval, heart-shaped, double saw-toothed leaflets. The small greenish flowers are arranged in numerous clusters, instead of only three as in nudicaulis, and also appear somewhat later, namely, from July to August. The berries are roundish, reddish brown, or dark purple.

The rootstock is shorter than that of nudicaulis, and much thicker, with prominent stem scars, and furnished with numerous, very long, rather thick roots. The odor and taste are stronger than in nudicaulis. It is also collected in autumn, and brings from 4 to 8 cents a pound.

The American spikenard occurs in similar situations as nudicaulis, but its range extends somewhat farther south, Georgia being given as the southern limit.

The California spikenard (Aralia californica Wats.) may be used for the same purposes as the other species. The plant is larger than Aralia racemosa, but otherwise is very much like it. The root is also larger than that of A. racemosa.