Part 8

Collection, prices, and uses.—Crawley-root should be collected in July or August. The price ranges from 20 to 50 cents a pound. Other species of Corallorhiza are sometimes collected and are said to probably possess similar properties. This root is said to be very effective for promoting perspiration, and it is also used as a sedative and in fever.

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, broad-leaved asarabacca, false colt’s-foot, cat’s-foot, colicroot.

Habitat and range.—This inconspicuous little plant frequents rich woods or rich soil along roadsides 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 (Aristolochiaceæ). 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 unassuming 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, woolly, 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. (Pl. III, fig. 2.)

Description of rootstock.—Canada snakeroot has a creeping, yellowish rootstock, slightly jointed, with thin rootlets produced from joints which occur about every half inch or so. (Pl. III, fig. 2.) 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 Pharmacopœia from 1820 to 1880, is used as an aromatic, diaphoretic, and carminative.

SERPENTARIA.

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

Pharmacopœial name.—Serpentaria.

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, principally 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 birthwort family (Aristolochiaceæ). 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 2½ inches long and about 1 or 1½ 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. (Pl. III, fig. 3.)

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, coarse hairs. The small, densely hairy purplish flowers are also produced from the base of the plant.

Description of rootstocks.—Serpentaria has a short rootstock with many thin, branching, fibrous roots. (Pl. III, fig. 3.) 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 goldenseal, 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 diaphoretic properties. Both species are official in the United States Pharmacopœia.

YELLOW DOCK.

Rumex crispus L.

Other common names.—Rumex, curled dock, narrow dock, sour dock. (Fig. 5.)

Habitat and range.—This troublesome weed, introduced from Europe, is now found throughout the United States, occurring in cultivated as well as in waste ground, among rubbish heaps, and along roadsides.

Description of plant.—Yellow dock is a perennial plant belonging to the buckwheat family (Polygonaceæ), and has a deep, spindle-shaped root, from which arises an erect, angular, and furrowed stem, attaining a height of from 2 to 4 feet. The stem is branched near the top and leafy, bearing numerous long dense clusters formed by drooping groups of inconspicuous green flowers placed in circles around the stem. The flowers are produced from June to August, and the fruits which follow are in the form of small triangular nuts, like the grain of buckwheat, to which family the dock belongs. So long as the fruits are green and immature they can scarcely be distinguished from the flowers, but as they ripen the clusters take on a rusty-brown color. The leaves of the yellow dock are lance shaped, acute, with the margins strongly waved and crisped, the lower long-stalked leaves being blunt or heart shaped at the base and from 6 to 8 inches in length, while those nearer the top are narrower and shorter, only 3 to 6 inches in length, short stemmed or stemless.

The broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius L.) known also as bitter dock, common dock, blunt-leaved dock, and butter-dock, is a very common weed found in waste places from the New England States to Oregon and south to Florida and Texas. It grows to about the same height as the yellow dock, to which it bears a close resemblance, differing principally in its more robust habit of growth. The stem is stouter than in yellow dock, and the leaves, which likewise are wavy along the margin, are much broader and longer. The green flowers appear from June to August and are in rather long, open clusters, the groups rather loose and far apart. (Fig. 6.)

Description of roots.—Yellow dock root is large and fleshy, usually from 8 to 12 inches long, tapering or spindle shaped, with few or no rootlets. When dry it is usually twisted and prominently wrinkled, the rather thick, dark, reddish brown bark marked with small scars. The inside of the root is whitish at first, becoming yellowish. The fracture is short, but shows some splintery fibers. The root, as it occurs in commerce, is either entire or occasionally split lengthwise.

The darker colored root of the broad-leaved dock has a number of smaller branches near the crown and more rootlets. (Fig. 6.) Dock roots have but a very faint odor and a bitter, astringent taste.