186 Angewandte Botanik. 



the European, and was formerly exported for use, our warm Sum- 

 mers rendering- our medicinal plants more efficacious. As a medi- 

 cinal plant this species of Achillea has a very old record, as a 

 vulnerary, and also as a vermifuge. In Sweden the whole plant 

 was used to make strong beer; in Northern Germany the leaves 

 were used as cabbage; in Iceland it was used as a tea, and 

 finally in Norway as tobacco. The vulnerary properties are said 

 to have been detected by Achilles, according to Pliny, but it is not 

 certain whether the plant was A. Millefoliiim or the southern A. 

 iiobilis. In the roots resiniferous ducts are developed from endo- 

 dermis just outside the leptome, and the same is the case with 

 the ducts in the stolons and the stem above ground; the pericycle 

 of the stem is composed of parenchyma and isolated Strands of 

 stereome. The narrow segments of the leaf show a partly isolateral 

 structure as stomata occur on both faces, and as a palisade-tissue 

 is, sometimes, developed in the dorsal part of the chlorenchyma, 

 at last near the midvein. Theo Holm. 



Holm, T., Medicinal plants of North America. 83. Myrica 

 and Comptonia. (Merck's Report. XXIII. p. 191 — 194. f. 1—20. 

 August 1914.) 



Until very recently Myrica cevifera L. and M. CaroUnensis Mill. 

 were merged into one species, and described ander the name M. 

 cevifera L. by Gray and several other American authors, but not 

 by Nuttall. In both species wax is formed on the fruit, „Mj^rtle- 

 wax", used in the preparation of candles. Moreover the bark of 

 stem and root is said to possess valuable remedial properties, and 

 has been employed to a considerable extent. Palmitic and Myristic 

 acid were found in the bark by Moore. All parts oi Comptotiia con- 

 tain a volatile oil resembling that of cinnamon. Several figures 

 illustrate the anatomy of these three plants. and the following points 

 may be added to the characterization in general of the family as 

 described by Solered er (Syst. anatomie p. 883): The occurrence 

 of spirally thickened cells in the cortex of both genera; the deve- 

 lopment of secondary stereome in Comptonia ; the almost isolateral 

 leaf-structure of M. CaroUnensis in contrast with the dorsiventral of 

 M. cerifera and Comptonia ; the long hairs in pairs on the stem of 

 Comptonia ; the peculiar pearl-shaped glands on the leaf of Comp- 

 tonia; and the thickenings of the lateral cell-walls of epidermis in 

 Comptonia. Theo Holm. 



Holm, T„ Medicinal plants of North America. 8 4. Chamae- 

 lirium luteum (L.) Gray. (Merck's Report. XXIII. p. 268—269. f. 

 1-11. Nov. 1914.) 



,,Reseda foliis lanceolatis, caule simplicissimo" is the earliest 

 appellation and diagnosis of Chamaelirium luteum (L.) Gray, and 

 the populär name was said to be „Rattlesnake root", according to 

 Gronovius: Flora Virginica. In the same work, however, the 

 name is corrected to „ Veratrum^\ From time to time the species 

 has been referred to several other genera, viz. Helonias, Melanthium, 

 Ophiostachys and Diclinotrys, until WiUdenow established the 

 genus Chamaelirium , but appending the name CaroHnianum to the 

 species. The rhizome contains a bitter principle „chamaelirin". The 



