Part 9

=Range and habitat.=—Boneset delights in moist situations, and is common as a weed in clayey or sandy soil, in low, wet ground, and along streams, on the edges of swamps and in thickets from the New England States west to Nebraska and south to Texas and Florida.

=Description.=—One of the features which will aid in recognizing this plant is the peculiar arrangement of the leaves. These are opposite each other and joined together at the base around the stem, and therefore have the appearance of a single leaf with the stem passing through the center of it.

Boneset is a perennial herb of the aster family of plants (Asteraceæ), with stout, rough, hairy stems 1 to 5 feet high, from a horizontal, crooked root. The leaves are opposite, united at the base, lance shaped, tapering to a point, bluntly toothed, rough with prominent veins, wrinkled, dark green on the upper surface, downy and paler green on the lower surface. Both leaves together measure from 8 to 14 inches from point to point and 1 to 1½ inches wide. The flowers are white, tubular, ten to twenty or more united in dense heads, and the heads are borne in rather crowded flat-topped clusters, appearing from July to September.

=Parts used.=—The leaves and flowering tops are the parts used in medicine, and these should be collected when the plants are in flower, stripped from the stalk, and carefully dried. They lose about three-fourths of their weight in drying. The odor is faintly aromatic, the taste bitter and astringent.

As indicated by the common names “ague-weed” and “feverwort,” this is a popular remedy in fever and ague. It is used also in colds, dyspepsia, jaundice, and for toning up the system. In large doses it is an emetic and cathartic.

=Prices.=—Eupatorium or boneset leaves and tops bring from 2 to 8 cents per pound.

CATNIP. Nepeta cataria L.

=Other common names.=—Catmint, catrup, cat’s wort, field mint. (Fig. 20.)

=Range and habitat.=—This very common weed is naturalized from Europe, and is found in rather dry soil in waste places and cultivated land, about old buildings and along fences, from Canada to Minnesota and southward to Virginia and Arkansas.

=Description.=—The erect, square stems of this perennial herb of the mint family (Menthaceæ) grow to a height of 2 to 3 feet, are branched, and somewhat whitish in appearance from the covering of fine white hairs.

The leaves are opposite and borne on stems, heart shaped or oblong, with an acute apex, 1 to 2½ inches long, evenly and finely scalloped, green above, beneath grayish-green with fine white hairs. The many-flowered clusters appear from June to September, and are borne in thick spikes 1 to 5 inches long at the top of the stems and branches. The flowers are white or somewhat purple, two-lipped, the upper lip two-cleft, the lower one three-lobed and sometimes spotted with red, the middle lobe broadest and round-toothed.

=Parts used.=—The flowering tops and leaves are to be collected when the plant is in flower and carefully dried. They have a strong mint-like odor and a bitter taste. The coarser stems and branches should be rejected.

Catnip is used in derangements of women, as a mild stimulant and tonic, and has a quieting effect on the nervous system.

=Imports and prices.=—Cataria or catnip is imported in but small quantities. The price paid for the flowering tops and leaves is from 2 to 8 cents per pound.

HOARHOUND. Marrubium vulgare L.

=Other common names.=—Houndsbene, marvel, marrube. (Fig. 21.)

=Range and habitat.=—Hoarhound has been naturalized from Europe, and has escaped from gardens in this country, being found now rather abundantly in dry sandy or stony soil in waste places, pastures, fields, along roadsides, and near dwellings, from Maine to South Carolina, Texas, and westward to California and Oregon. It is very abundant in pastures in California, Oregon, and in limited areas in Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Michigan. In southern California this plant has proved a most troublesome weed, occurring almost everywhere and growing in such dense masses as to crowd out all other vegetation. It has spread rapidly over thousands of acres, taking complete possession of the land and destroying pastures.

=Description.=—The entire plant has a whitish, woolly appearance, caused by the dense covering of hairs. It is a perennial plant, and as will be seen from the characteristic lip-shaped flowers, is a member of the mint family (Menthaceæ). The whole plant has a rather pleasant, balsamic odor.

Hoarhound is a bushy, branching herb, with fibrous roots sending up numerous woolly stems about 1 to 3 feet high, rounded below and four-angled above. The leaves are opposite each other, 1 to 2 inches long, oval or nearly round, wrinkled, somewhat blunt at the apex, narrowed or somewhat heart shaped at the base, with rounded teeth, somewhat hairy and wrinkled on the upper surface, and prominently veined and very hoary on the lower surface. The flowers are whitish, two-lipped, the upper lip two-lobed, the lower three-lobed, and are borne in dense, woolly clusters in the axils of the leaves. (Fig. 22.) The plant flowers from June to September, and the characteristic hooked calyx teeth of the mature flower clusters cling to the wool of sheep like a bur, resulting in the scattering of the seeds.

=Parts used.=—The leaves and tops are used in medicine. These should be gathered just before the herb is in flower, rejecting the coarse stalks, and should be dried in the shade in the usual manner. The balsamic odor diminishes in drying. The herb has a bitter, persistent taste.

Hoarhound is well known as a remedy for colds, and is also used in dyspepsia and for expelling worms.

=Imports and prices.=—A considerable quantity of marrubium or hoarhound is imported, about 125,000 pounds coming into this country annually. Three to 8 cents is the price paid per pound.

BLESSED THISTLE. Cnicus benedictus L.

=Other common names.=—Holy thistle, bitter thistle, Our Lady’s thistle, St. Benedict’s thistle, cursed thistle, spotted thistle. (Fig. 23.)

=Range and habitat.=—This weed has been introduced from Europe and occurs in stony, uncultivated localities and waste places in the Southern States and in California and Utah.

=Description.=—Blessed thistle is an annual plant belonging to the aster family (Asteraceæ). The round stems are erect, about 1 to 2 feet high, branched, and rather woolly. The leaves are more or less hairy, the lower ones borne on petioles (leaf stems), the upper ones sessile (stemless) and clasping the stem. They are oblong-lanceolate and wavy-lobed. The terminal yellow flower heads are surrounded by scales of a leathery texture, which are prolonged into long, hard, branching spines.

=Parts used.=—The leaves and tops should be collected when the plant is in flower, about June, thoroughly and quickly dried, and kept in a vessel from which moisture, light, and air should be excluded. They have a somewhat disagreeable odor and the taste is very bitter.

Blessed thistle is employed in fevers, dyspepsia, and as a tonic to restore the appetite.