42 AMERICAN ROOT DRUGS. 



shaped. :i to iuehes Ioiil'. sliarijly toothed, greeu on both sides, the upper smooth 

 and the lower sometimes hairy. The shrub is in flower from June to July, pro- 

 duciiiii; loose, branching, terminal heads of small, greenish white flowers, fol- 

 lowed by membranous, usually 2-celled capsules, whicli contain numerous seeds. 

 (PI. IV, flg. 4.) Sometimes hydrangea will flower a second time, early in fall. 



A peculiar characteristic of this shrub, and one that has given rise to the 

 ( ommon name " seven-barks," is the peeling off of the stem bark, which comes 

 off in several successive layers of thin, different colored bark. 



Desert iitUiit of root. — The root is roughly liranched and when first taken from 

 the ground is very juicy, but after drying it becomes hard. The smooth white 

 and t(mgh wood is covered with a thin, i»ale-yellow or light-l)rown bark, which 

 readily scales off. The wood is tasteless, but the bark has a pleasant aromatic 

 taste, becoming somewhat pungent. 



Colleetion, prices, and »srs.^Hydrangea i"oot is collected in autunm, and as it 

 becomes very tough after drying and difficult to bruise it is best to cut the 

 I'oot in short transverse pieces while it is fresh and still juicy and dry it in 

 this way. The price ranges from 2 to 7 cents a pound. 



Hydrangea has diuretic properties and is said to have l)een much iised by 

 the Cherokees and early settlers in calculous complaints. 



INDIAN-PHYSIC. 



PorteraiifhiiK trifoliatiis (I..) Britton. 



Synonym. — Gillenia trifuliitta Moench. 



Other common naiiirs. — (iillenia. liowman's-root, f;ilse ipecac, western drop- 

 wort, Indian-hippo. 



Haljittit mid raiifjc. — Indian-physic is native in rich woods from New York to 

 Michigan, south to Georgia and Missouri. 



Description of plant. — The reddish stems of this slender, gracefid perennial of 

 the rose family (Rosacea') are about 2 to 8 feet high, several erect and branched 

 stems being produced from the same root. The leaves are almost stemless and 

 trifoliate ; that is, composed of three leaflets. They are ovate or lanceolate, 2 

 to o inches long, narrowed at the base, smooth, and toothed. The nodding, white 

 or pinkish flowers are few, produced in loose terminal clusters from May to 

 July. (PI. V. fig. 1.) > The five petals are long, narrowed or tapering toward the 

 base, white or pinkish, and inserted in the tubular, somewhat bell-shaped, red- 

 tinged calyx. The seed pods are slightly hairy. 



At the base of the leaf stems are small leaflike parts, called stipules, which 

 in this species are very small, linear, and entire. In the following species, 

 which is very similar to trifoliatus and collected with it, the stipules, however, 

 are so much larger that they form a prominent character, which has given rise 

 to its specific name, stipiihitiis. 



Porterantlius stipiilatus (Muhl.) Britton (Syu. Gillenia stipulacea Nutt.) is 

 found in similar situations as P. trifoliatus, but generally farther west, its range 

 extending from Avestern New York to Indiana and Kansas, south to Alabama, 

 Louisiana, and Indian Territory. The general appearance of this plant is very 

 similar to that of P. trifoliatus. It grows to about the same height, but is gen- 

 erally more hairy, the leaflets narrower and more deeply toothed, and the 

 flowers perhaps a trifle smaller. The stipules, however, will generally serve to 

 distinguish it. These are large, broad, ovate, acute at the apex, sharply and 

 deeply notched, and so much like leaves that but for their position at the base 

 of the leaf stems they might easily be mistaken for them. 



With the exception of the name American ipecac applied to this plant, the 

 common names of Porterantlius trifoliatus are also used for /'. stipulatus. 

 The roots of both species are collected and used for the same purposes. 



107 



