492 Ansrewandte Botanik 



ö' 



umbellata (L.) Nutt. (Merck's Report. XVIII. p, 143—145. fig. 1—9. 

 June 1909.) 



The drug "Chimaphila U. S." is the dried leaves of this species 

 of Chimaphila; when fresh and bruised the leaves exhale a peculiar 

 odor, and the taste is bitter, astringent, and somewhat sweetish. 

 They contain Chimaphilin, which is a yellow, crystalline (in needles) 

 siibstance, inodorous, and tasteless. At present Chimaphila is regar- 

 ded as being only slightl}^ tonic, astringent, and diuretic. It is a 

 very populär plant, and has many names: Pipsissewa, Wintergreen , 

 Rheumatism weed etc. The species occurs in dry woods, especially 

 coniferous, and the geographical ränge extends from Canada to 

 Georgia, west to the Pacific from British Columbia to Cali- 

 fornia, besides Mexico, Europe, and Japan. The rhizome is 

 slender, horizontal, strongly stoloniferous, and may reach a length of 

 a meter; the ramification of the shoot is described and figured, and 

 in respect to the anatomy the following points may be mentioned. 

 A "reseau de soutien" was observed in the innermost Stratum of 

 the root-bark, the one that borders on endodermis. None of the 

 roots examined contained hyphae, and the secondary increase 

 depends merely upon the formation of secondar}'' leptome and 

 hadrome. In the subterranean stem the pith is homogeneous, thin- 

 walled, and starch bearing, but heterogeneous in the aerial inter- 

 nodes, where it is moderately thickwalled, and contains some very 

 thinwalled cells with druids of calcium-oxalate. According to Sole- 

 reder a similar structure of pith has, also, been observed in Cla- 

 dothamnus, Calluna, Leduni etc. The evergreen leaves are bifacial 

 with a thick cuticle and a thickwalled epiderniis on both faces; the 

 stomata lack subsidiary cells. The palisades are high, and cover a 

 very open pneumatic tissue. No endodermis was observed in the 

 midrib, but some strata of thinwalled stereome on the leptorae-side 

 only. Very characteristic of the species is its great ability to spread 

 by means of root-shoots, known also from some of the other Pyroleae 

 viz.: P. chlorantha, P. aphylla etc. Theo Holm. 



Holm, T., Medicinal plants of North America. 29. Euonymus 

 Arnericanus L. and E. atvopuvpuveus Jacq. (Merck's Report XVIII., 

 p. 169—171. fig. 1 — 13. July 1909.) 



Although official Euonytnus U. S. (Br.) calls for the dried root- 

 bark of E. atvopurpiireiiSj it is generally admitted that much of the 

 drug is obtained from E. Americamis; it is claimed, however, that 

 the constituents of both species are identic. Wenzel detected a 

 bitter principle in the root of the former, which be called "euony- 

 min" beside asparagin, resin, fixed oil, wax, starch, albumen , glu- 

 cose, pectin, and various salts. Under the name "Wahoo" Euonymus, 

 was first introduced into notice, as a remedy for drops}^; it is, also, 

 Said to act as a wild cathartic. Both species are described and 

 figured, together with the seedling of the latter. In regard to the 

 internal structure may be mentioned that the stem of E. Arnericanus 

 has a verjT- thickwalled epidermis, a thinwalled hypoderm, and a 

 heterogeneous cortex, which consists of two peripheral strata of 

 palisades covering several layers of ordinary parenchyma; no pali- 

 sades were observed in the other species. There is no endodermis, 

 but a pericycle of very soft stereome, forming a continuous band. 

 The leaf-structure is bifacial, and the stomata are surrounded by 



