ASARUM CANADENSE. 3 
Canada Snake root. Wild ginger. 
al PLATE. XV. 
Tux properties of this mild aromatic have 
been so far misconceived, probably from its re- 
lation to an European species, that it would be 
improper in a work of this kind, to pass over it | 
without notice of its real character. It affords a 
striking exception to the rule, that botanical affin- 
“ities are capable of indicating the medicinal 
qualities of vegetables. This plant in its effect on 
the human system, is widely different from the 
European asarabacca, although it approaches it so 
nearly in its form, that Michaux styles it “ vix dis- 
; tinctum ab Europeo.” 
The Asarum Canadense grows in old woods 
and mountainous tracts from Canada to Carolina. 
‘It is one of the humblest plants, presenting only 
two leaves with their stalks, which appear to con- 
stitute the whole of the plant aboye the ground. 
