PLANTS FURNISHING ROOT DRUGS. 



33 



its quality impaired. The cup-liice depressions or stem scars on the upper 

 surface of the rootstock resemble the imprint of a seal, whence the most pojuilar 

 name of the plant, goldenseal, is derived. The rootstock as found in connuerci' 

 is almost bare, the fibrous rootlets, which in drying become very wiry and 

 brittle, breaking off readily JUid leaving only small protuberances. 



The odor of the dried rootstock. while not so iironounced as in tlie fresh 

 material, is peculiar, narcotic, and disagreeable. The taste is exceedingly 

 bitter, and when the rootstock is chewed there is a persistent acridity, which 

 causes an abundant flow of saliva. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The root should be collected in autumn after 

 the seeds have ripened, fi'eed from soil, and carefully dried. After a dry season 

 goldenseal dies down soon after the fruit is mature, so that it often hap- 

 pens that by the end of September not a trace of the plant remains above 

 ground ; but if the season has been moist, the plant 

 sometimes persists to the beginning of winter. The 

 price of goldenseal ranges from $1 to $1.50 a pound. 



Goldenseal, which is official in the United States 

 Pharmacopoeia, is a useful drug in digestive disor- 

 ders and in certain catarrhal affections of the mu- 

 cous membranes, in the latter instance being admin- 

 istered both internally and locally. 



Cultivation. — Once so abundant in certain parts 

 of the country, especially in the Ohio Valley, golden- 

 seal is now becoming scarce throughout its range, 

 and in con.sequence of the increased demand for the 

 root, both at home and abroad, its cultivation must 

 sooner or later be more generally undertaken in 

 order to satisfy the needs of medicine. In some 

 parts of the country the cultivation of goldenseal is 

 already under way. 



The first thing to be considered in growing this 

 plant is to furnish it, as nearly as possible, the con- 

 ditions to which it has been accustomed in its na- 

 tive forest home. This calls for a well-drained soil, 

 rich in humus, and partially shaded. Goldenseal 

 stands transplanting well, and the easiest way to 

 propagate it is to bring the plants in from the forest 

 and transplant them to a properly prepared location, or to collect the rootstocks 

 and to cut them into as many pieces as there are buds, planting these pieces in a 

 deep, loose, well-prepared soil, and mulching, adding new mulch each year to 

 . renew the humus. With such a soil the cultivation of goldenseal is simple, and 

 it will be necessary chiefly to keep down the weeds. 



The plants may be grown in rows 1 foot apart and 6 inches apart in the row, 

 or they may be grown in beds 4 to 8 feet wide, with walks between. Artificial 

 shade will be necessary, and this is supplied by the erection of lath sheds. The 

 time required to obtain a marketable crop is from two to three years. 



Detailed information regarding the experiments made by the Department will 

 be found in another publication." 



Fig. 10. — Goldenseal rootstock. 



a Bulletin 51, Part VI, Bureau of Plant Industry. " Goldenseal. 



3519— No. 107—07 M- 



