26 AMERICAN ROOT DRUGS. 



and aromatic, and has been said to be intermediate between ginger and ser- 

 pentaria. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — Tlie aromatic root of Canada snakeroot is col- 

 lected in autumn, and the price ranges from 10 to 15 cents a pound. It was 

 reported as very scarce in the latter part of the summer of 1906. Canada snake- 

 root, which was official in the T'nited States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1880, is 

 used as an aromatic, diaphoretic, and carminative. 



SERPENTARIA. 



(1) Aristolochia serpentaria L. and (2) Aristolochia reticulata Nutt. 



PJiarmacopceiul name. — Serpentaria. 



Other common names. — (1) Virginia serpentaria, Virginia snakeroot, serpen- 

 tary, snakeweed, pelican-flower, snagrel, sangrel, sangree-root : (2) Texas ser- 

 pentaria, Texas snakeroot. Red River snakeroot. 



Habitat and range. — Virginia serpentaria is found in rich woods from Con- 

 necticut to Michigan and southward, principally along the Alleghenies. and 

 Texas serpentaria occurs in the Southwestern States, growing along river banks 

 from Arkansas to Louisiana. 



Description of Virginia serpentaria. — About midsummer the queerly shaped 

 flowers of this native perennial are produced. They are very similar to those 

 of the better known " Dutchman's-pipe." another species of this genu«. which 

 is quite extensively grown as an ornamental vine for covering porches and 

 trellises. Virginia serpentaria and Texas serpentaria both belong to the birth- 

 wort family (Aristolochiacefe). The Virginia serpentaria is nearly erect, the 

 slender, wavy stem sparingly branched near the base, and usually growing to about 

 a foot in height, sometimes, however, even reaching .S feet. The leaves are thin, 

 ovate, ovate lance shaped or oblong lance shaped, and usually heart shaped at 

 the base ; they are about 2^ inches long and about 1 or li inches in width. The 

 flowers are produced from near the base of the plant, similar to its near relative, 

 the Canada snakeroot. They are solitary and terminal, borne on slender, scaly 

 branches, dull brownish purple in color, and of a somewhat leathery texture; 

 the calyx tube is curiously bent or contorted in the shape of the letter S. The 

 fruit is a roundish 6-celled capsule, about half an inch in diameter, and con- 

 taining numerous seeds. (PI. Ill, fig. 3.) 



Description of Texas serpentaria. — This species has a very wavy stem, with 

 oval, heart-shaped, clasping leaves, which are rather thick and strongly reticu- 

 lated or marked with a network of veins ; hence the specific name reticulata. 

 The entire plant is hairy, with numerous long, coarse hairs. The small, densely 

 hairy purplish flowers are also produced from the base of the plant. 



Description of rootstocks. — Serpentaria has a short rootstock with many 

 thin, branching, fibrous roots. (PI. Ill, fig. 3.) In the dried state it is thin and 

 bent, the short remains of stems showing on the upper surface and the under 

 surface having numerous thin roots about 4 inches in length, all of a dull 

 yellowish brown color, internally white. It has a very agreeable aromatic odor, 

 somewhat like camphor, and the taste is described as warm, bitterish, and 

 camphoraceous. 



The Texas serpentaria has a larger rootstock, with fewer roots less inter- 

 laced than the Virginia serpentaria. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The roots of serpentaria are collected in au- 

 tumn. Various other roots are sometimes mixed with serpentaria, but as they are 

 mostly high-priced drugs, such as goldenseal, pinkroot. senega, and ginseng, their 

 presence in a lot of serpentaria is probably accidental, due simply to proximity 

 107 



