Part 11

=Other common names.=—Spotted parsley, St. Bennet’s herb, bad-man’s oatmeal, heck-how, wode whistle, cashes, bunk, poison parsley, spotted cowbane. (Fig. 28.)

=Range and habitat.=—Poison hemlock is rather common in waste places and along roadsides, principally in the Eastern and Middle States. It has been naturalized in this country from Europe.

=Description.=—From the close resemblance of the leaves of this plant to parsley, it is sometimes mistaken for the latter and fatal cases of poisoning have occurred. All parts of the plant are exceedingly poisonous.

Poison hemlock belongs to the same family as the parsley, namely, the Apiaceæ. It is a biennial, about 2 to 6 feet in height, with a smooth, hollow stem dotted with purple, and large leaves very much like those of parsley. The numerous small white flowers are borne in rather showy umbels (flat-topped clusters, with stems from one point) and appear in June and July. The fruit ripens in August and September. The fruit is grayish-green, ribbed, about one-eighth of an inch long, ovate, laterally flattened, and smooth.

The entire plant possesses a disagreeable mousy odor, which is especially noticeable when bruised.

=Parts used.=—The fruit and leaves are the parts used. The fruit should be collected while still green but full grown, which in most localities is some time in August. It should be dried in dark but well ventilated places, and then stored in tight cans or boxes where it will not be exposed to the action of light and air.

The poison hemlock leaves should be collected when the plant is in flower, which will be in the second year of its growth. The stems should be rejected. Contrary to the usual method of drying leaves and herbs, the poison hemlock leaves may be quickly dried in the sun and then kept in tightly closed vessels. The leaves will retain their green color if properly cured. The odor is still very disagreeable, but not so pronounced as in the fresh plant.

This very poisonous drug is used in rheumatism, neuralgia, asthma, and in cases where the nervous system is in an excited condition.

=Imports and prices.=—The imports of conium or poison hemlock seed amount to about 20,000 pounds annually, and from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of the leaves are imported. The price paid for the seed is about 3 cents per pound, and for the leaves about 4 cents.

AMERICAN WORMSEED. Chenopodium ambrosioides L.

=Other common names.=—Mexican tea, Spanish tea, Jerusalem tea, Jesuit tea, ambrosia. (Fig. 29.)

=Range and habitat.=—This strong-scented herb, naturalized in this country from tropical America, frequents waste places around dwellings and is found in streets, meadows, pastures, and grain fields from New England to Florida, and westward to California.

=Description.=—American wormseed is an annual plant of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceæ), attaining a height of from 2 to 3 feet. The stem is grooved, usually much branched and leafy, the leaves oblong or oblong lance-shaped, somewhat acute at the apex, the lower ones 1 to 3 inches long and wavy-toothed, the numerous upper leaves much smaller and usually entire. From July to September the flowers are produced, followed throughout the autumn by the fruits, both of which are green and borne in crowded leafy spikes. The whole plant has a powerful, disagreeable odor, due to the essential oil which it contains.

=Part used.=—The entire leafy part of the plant is sometimes employed for the distillation of the oil, although the fruit alone is listed in the Pharmacopœia of the United States. The fruit is distilled for the oil, which it contains in large quantities.

The fruits are in the form of small grains, about the size of a pin head, globular but slightly flattened, greenish, and inclosing the small shining black seeds. They have the same powerful odor as the plant, which does not diminish when the fruit is dried, and the taste is bitter and pungent. American wormseed is an anthelmintic, that is, it has the property of expelling worms.

The fruits of Chenopodium anthelminticum, another species of wormseed, are collected with those of the species just described. This plant is very similar to the American wormseed, the fruits being alike, and the only differences being that in Chenopodium anthelminticum the stem is slightly taller, from 2½ to 3½ feet high, the leaves are more coarsely toothed, the flowers are borne in more elongated, usually leafless spikes, the odor is more pronounced and disagreeable, and the range and distribution of the plant are more limited.

Wormseed is cultivated to a considerable extent in parts of Maryland, where the distillation of the plant for the oil is carried on.

=Price.=—In ordinary seasons the price paid for chenopodium or wormseed ranges from 6 to 8 cents per pound. The oil distilled from wormseed is at present selling at $1.50 per pound.

BLACK MUSTARD. Brassica nigra (L.) Koch. (Sinapis nigra L.)

=Other common names.=—Brown mustard, red mustard. (Fig. 30.)

=Range and habitat.=—Black mustard, introduced from Europe, is a troublesome weed in many parts of the United States. It is common in almost every State in the Union along roadsides, in cultivated ground, and in waste places, being especially troublesome in grain fields and pastures. Both black and white mustards are cultivated in California.

This plant is a great pest in southern California, covering thousands of acres and forming dense, impenetrable thickets over 6 feet in height, in which birds have their nesting places, and, by eating and excreting the seeds, help to spread this pernicious weed.

=Description.=—The rather stiff, dark-green, branching stem of black mustard is from 4 to 6 feet in height. The lower part of the stems and branches is more or less bristly hairy, but the upper part is usually smooth.

The leaves are dark green, somewhat rough, with bristly hairs, and are all borne on stalks. The lower leaves are lobed, the terminal lobe being the largest and the two or more lateral ones smaller. The leaves toward the top of the plant become lance shaped and are slightly toothed.

The flowers of black mustard appear from June to September, and are of a bright yellow color. They are rather small, scarcely a quarter of an inch in diameter, the four petals spreading and each consisting of a rounded blade with a narrow claw. The petals alternate with the pale-green sepals or calyx lobes. The flowers appear in clusters at the ends of the elongating stems, followed from July to November by the numerous erect pods crowded against the stem in dense narrow clusters. The pods are about 1 inch in length, quadrangular, smooth, and tipped at the apex by the short, persistent style. The seeds contained in the pods are very numerous, small, about one twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter, globular, blackish brown, and finely pitted.

The plant is an annual, and if care is taken to prevent the distribution of the seeds it is not difficult to exterminate. The seeds possess great vitality, and may remain in the ground for years before germinating.

=Collection of seeds.=—The tops may be pulled when most of the pods are nearly mature, but before they are ready to spring open. They should then be placed on a clean, dry floor or shelf, allowing the pods to ripen and dry out, when they will burst open and the seeds can be readily shaken out.

Mustard seed has no odor whatever when collected, not even when it is powdered in its dry state, but as soon as water is added in grinding it, the powerful, penetrating mustard odor is developed. The taste is sharp and pungent.