29 
table antimony, sweating plant, Indian sage, wild sage, tearal, wild 
Isaac. (Fig. 19.) 
Range and habitat.—Boneset delights in moist situations, and is com- 
mon as a weed in clayey or sandy soil, in low, wet ground, and along 
streams, on the edges of swamps and in thickets from the New Eng- 
land States west to Nebraska and south to Texas and Florida. 
Description.—One of the features which will aid in recognizing this 
plant is the peculiar arrangement of the leaves. These are opposite 
each other and joined together at the base around the stem, and there- 
fore have the appearance of a single leaf with the stem passing through 
the center of it. 
Boneset is a perennial herb of the aster family of plants (Asteracee), 
with stout, rough, hairy stems 1 to 5 feet high, from a horizontal, 
crooked root. The leayes are opposite, united at the base, lance 
shaped, tapering to a point, bluntly toothed, rough with prominent 
veins, wrinkled, dark green on the upper surface, downy and paler 
green on the lower surface. Both leaves together measure from 8 to 
14 inches from point to point and 1 to 1} inches wide. The flowers 
are white, tubular, ten to twenty or more united in dense heads, and 
the heads are borne in rather crowded flat-topped clusters, appearing 
from July to September. 
Parts used.—The leaves and flowering tops are the parts used in 
medicine, and these should be collected when the plants are in flower, 
stripped from the stalk, and carefully dried. They lose about three- 
fourths of their weight in drying. The odor is faintly aromatic, the 
taste bitter and astringent. 
As indicated by the common names ‘‘ague-weed” and ‘* feverwort,” 
this is a popular remedy in fever and ague. It is used also in colds, 
dyspepsia, jaundice, and for toning up the system. In large doses it 
is an emetic and cathartic. 
Prices.—Eupatorium or boneset leaves and tops bring from 2 to 8 
cents per pound. 
eis CATNIP. 
Nepeta cataria L. 
Other common names.—Catmint, catrup, cat’s wort, field mint. (Fig. 
20.) 
Range and habitat—This very common weed is naturalized from 
Europe, and is found in rather dry soil in waste places and cultivated — 
land, about old buildings and along fences, from Canada to Minnesota 
and southward to Virginia and Arkansas. 
Description The erect, square stems of this perennial herb of the 
mint family (Menthacee) grow toa height of 2 to 3 feet,are branched, __ 
- and somewhat whitish in appearance from the covering of fine white 
