PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM. 
ripens in the latter part of September, at which time the leaves 
wither and fall off. The fruit is edible, and though very agree- 
able to some persons, it is to others extremely unpleasant. _ 
The leaves are poisonous, and its medical virtues are wholly 
confined to the root, which is said to be most efficient when 
collected after the falling of the leaves. ; 
The root (rhizoma) of the PoporuyLLuM PELTaTUM is per 
ennial, creeping, usually several feet in length, about one 
quarter of an inch thick, of a brown color externally, smooth- 
jointed and furnished with radicles at the joints. The stem 
is about a foot high, round, sheathed at base, erect, dividing 
into two round leaf-stalks, between which grows the flower. 
Each petiole bears a large smooth peltate palmate leaf, deep- 
ly divided into five—seven lobes, which are each two-parted 
and dentate at the end. ‘They are often peltate, but generally 
separate at base quite to the petiole. The flower is stalked, 
drooping or nodding, white, with a three-leaved, caducous calyx, 
which is oval, obtuse, concave, and deciduous. The corolla 
is of about six petals, often more, which are obovate, concave, 
white, fragrant and curiously reticulated with veins. The 
stamens are from thirteen to twenty, shorter than the petals, 
with oblong yellow anthers of twice the length of the fila- 
ments. ‘The stigma is sessile, and rendered irregular on its 
surface by numerous folds or convolutions. The fruit is about 
the size of a plum, crowned with the persistent stigma, and 
containing a sweetish fleshy pulp, in which about twelve ovate 
seeds are imbedded. It ripens early, and when ripe it is of a 
yellowish color, diversified by round brownish spots. 
eet 
CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES. 
Poporuyiium has been examined with a view to determine 
its constituents, and it has been found to contain resin, starch, 
and a peculiar vegetable substance crystallizable in white silky 
tufts. There has also been obtained from it a peculiar prin- 
ciple to which the name of Podophyjlin has been given. It is 
in pale, brown, shining scales, unalterable in the air, very spar- 
ingly soluble in cold water, much more soluble in boiling wa- 
ter, soluble also in ether, and freely so in boiling alcoh its. 
has neither acid nor alkaline properties. Nitric acid dissolves _ 
it with effervescence, producing a rich, deep-red color. Its _ 
taste at first is not very decided, in consequence of its sparing 
solubility, but becomes at length very bitter and permanent, 
and its alcoholic solution is _—* bitter. It may be ob- 
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