PLANTS FURNISHING ROOT DRUGS. 



^ 85 



BLACK COHOSH. 

 CitnkiftKjd racemosa (L. ) Nutt. 



SiiiKiiiyiit. — Actuca riuTiiiO)<a L. 



i'hannucoiHi'ial name. — Ciraicifuga. 



(Hlicr coiiiiiioii names, — Klack snakeroot. bujilmne, bufrwort, rattle-snakeroot, 

 rattlcntot. rattlowcHMl. lattlctop. richwood. siinawroot. 



Habitat and ian(/r. — Althouj,'!) pvelerrinj.' the shade of rich woods, hhirk 

 cohosh will grow occasionally in sunny situations in fence corners and woodland 

 pastures. It is most abundant in the Ohio Valley, but it occurs from Maine 

 to Wisconsin, south 

 along the Allegheny 

 .Mountains to Geor- 

 gia, and westward to 

 Missouri. 



D (' .s- V r i I) t i <> n of 

 plant. — Rising to a 

 height of 3 to 8 feet, 

 the showy, delicate- 

 flowered spikes of the 

 black cohosh tower 

 above most of the 

 other w o o d 1 a n d 

 flowers, making it a 

 conspicuous plant in 

 the woods and one 

 that can be easily 

 recognized. 



Black cohosh is 

 an indigenous peren- 

 nial plant belonging 

 to the same family 

 as the goldenseal, 

 namel.\ . the crowfoot 

 family (Kanuncula- 

 cea>). The tall stem, 

 sometimes 8 feet in 

 height, is rather 

 slender and leafy, the 

 leaves consisting of 

 three leaflets, which 

 are again divided 

 into threes. The leaf- 

 lets are about 2 inches long, ovate, sharp pointed at the apex, thin and smooth, 

 variously lobed, and the margins sharply toothed. The graceful, spikelike ter- 

 minal cluster of flowers, which is produced from .June to August, is from 6 inches 

 to 2 feet in length. (Fig. 12.) Attractive as these flower clusters are to the eye, 

 they generally do not prove attractive very long to those who may gather them 

 for their beauty, since the flowers emit an ofl:'ensive odor, which accounts for 

 some fif the common names applied to this plant, namely, bugbane and bugwort. 

 it having been thought that this odor was eflicacious in driving away bugs. 

 The flowers do not all open at one tinie, and thus there may be seen buds, bios 

 soms, and seed pods on one spike. The buds are white and globular, and as 

 107 



Fig. 12.— Black cohosh {Chnicifwja racemom), leaves, flowering spikes, 



and rootstock. 



