25 
ually diminishing in size as they reach the summit of the plant, the 
lower leaves being borne on stalks, while the upper ones are stemless. 
They are thin, oblong or oval, blunt, irregularly toothed, and almost 
wavy, with short hairs on both surfaces. 
From July until frost the rather inconspicuous, very small pale- 
blue flowers appear. These are very numerous, each one borne in the 
axils of the upper leaves on very short stems, all together forming a 
long, spike-like head. The lower lip of the fiower has three lobes, the 
upper one two segments, and from the center of the latter the tube of - 
the flower is cleft to the base. The seed pods are in the form of in- 
flated capsules, nearly globular, striated (grooved or marked with 
parallel lines), and contain very numerous minute dark-brown seeds. 
Parts used.—The leaves and flowering tops are used in medicine, and 
there is also a good demand for the seed. The leaves and tops should 
be gathered after some of the pods have become inflated, should be 
dried in the shade, and when dry kept in covered vessels. The dried 
leaves and tops have a rather disagreeable, somewhat sickening odor, 
and the taste, though mild at first, soon becomes strongly acrid and 
nauseous. The seeds are extremely minute, and each capsule is said 
to contain from 450 to 500 seeds. 
Lobelia is an expectorant, acts upon the nervous system and bowels, 
causes vomiting, and is poisonous. : 
Price.—The price paid for the dried leaves and tops ranges from 
to 8 cents per pound, and that for the seed from 15 to 20 cents per 
pound. : 
TANSY. 
Tanacetum vulgare L. — 
Other common names.—Bitter buttons, ginger plant, parsley fern, 
scented fern. (Fig. 16.) 
Range and habitat.—Tansy was originally introduced into’ this 
country asa garden plant from Europe, where it is native. It has now 
escaped from cultivation and is found as a weed along waysides and 
fences in many places from New England to Minnesota and southward 
to North Carolina and Missouri. 
Description.—This strong-scented perennial herb belongs to the aster 
family (Asteracew). The stout, erect stem is from 1} to 3 feet high, 
branching near the top, somewhat reddish, and usually smooth. 
The general outline of the leaf is oval, and it is divided nearly to the 
midrib into about seven pairs of segments, which, like the terminal 
one, are again divided for about two-thirds of the distance to the mid- 
vein into smaller lobes haying saw-toothed margins. The entire leaf 
is about 6 inches in length. oe. 
Tansy is in flower from July to September, and the roundish but 
flat-topped yellow flower heads are produced in dense terminal clusters. _ 
