78 Angewandte Botanik. 



Holm, T., Medicinal plants of North America. 70. Leptan- 

 dra Vivginica (L.) Nutt. (Merck's Report. XXII. p. 61 — 64. f. 1 — 17. 

 New York. March 1913.) 



The rhizome with the roots yield the drug Leptandra ; it con- 

 tains a glucoside „leptandrin" to which the virtues of the medicine 

 may be described. A füll description of the plant is given, and the 

 figures illustrate the creeping rhizome, the flower, and the anato- 

 mical structure. Characteristic of the roots, the secondary as well 

 as the lateral, is the thickwalled epidermis, and the abundance of 

 libriform in the stele. The rhizome shows a typical, thinwalled en- 

 dodermis, and a siereomatic pericycle; cork becomes developed 

 from the peripheral Stratum of the cortex. In the stem above-ground 

 a few layers of collenchyma Surround the cortex proper; endodermis 

 and pericycle are as described above. The leaf-structure is dorsi- 

 ventral, but very weak since the mechanical tissues are poorly 

 represented. Theo Holm. 



Holm, T., Medicinal plants of North America. 71. Datura 

 Stramonium L. (Merck's Report. XXII. p. 87 — 91. f. 1 — 16. New 

 York. April 1913.) 



All the parts of the plant are medicinal, but at present the 

 leaves only are official {Stramonium U. S, P.). It contains an alkaloid 

 „Daturine" said to be identical with atropine, or with hyoscyamine 

 in accordance with Ladenberg. The plant including the anatomical 

 structure is described and tigured. In the secondary hadrome of the 

 root small Strands of rudimentary leptome were observed, as already 

 described by Weiss who detected this structure in Datura, and 

 Scopolia. The hypocotyl lacks collenchyma, but possesses an endo- 

 dermis, and a parenchymatic pericycle with a very few stereids; 

 the hadrome of the four piimary mestome-strands contain also 

 leptome as observed in the root. In the periphery of the pith is a 

 band of isolated leptome-strands widely separated from the hadrome 

 of the mestome-bundles, and having become developed from meri- 

 stem in the pith. It is thus characteristic of the hypocotyl that the 

 mestome-strands are simply collateral, but that, on the other band, 

 internal leptome does occur as isolated Strands. In the epicotyl the 

 mestome-strands are bicollateral. The apical internodes of the stem 

 show a hypoderm of a Single Stratum between epidermis and the 

 collenchyma, and the stele consists of six bicollateral mestome- 

 strands; the pith is thinwalled, and contains crystalline sand. Sto- 

 mata are distributed over both faces of the leaf-blade, while the 

 chlorenchyma shows a ventral palisade-tissue, and a dorsal pneu- 

 matic; no stereome was observed in the leaf, but a little collen- 

 chyma accompanies the midrib. Theo Holm. 



Holm, T., Medicinal plants of North America. 72. Corat 

 lorhisa odontorhisa Nutt. (Merck's Report. XXII. p. 120-122- 

 f. 1 — 16. New York. May 1913.) 



Formerly the rhizome of this plant was official; it has a strong, 

 peculiar odor, and the taste is astringent bitterish. It w^as much 

 valued by the eclectics as an energetic diaphoretic, and was given 

 in fevers. The plant is described and figured. The base of the stem 

 is tuberous, and developed from a coral-like, much branched rhi- 

 zome without roots, but densely covered with papillae, bearing, 



