PLANTS FURNISlIlNli ROOT DRT'OS. 58 



Habitat and range. — This pretty little plant is fuuiul in rich woods from New- 

 Jersey to Florida, west to Texas and Wisconsin, but occurring principally in the 

 Southern States. It is fast disappearing, however, from its native haunts. 



Description of plant. — IMnkroot belon},'s to the same family as the yellnw jas- 

 mine, namely, the Logania family (Loganiaceie), noted for its poisonous species. 

 It is a iiativ(> perennial herb, with simple, erect stem 6 inches to lA feet high, 

 nearly smooth. The leaves are stemless. generally ovate, pointed at the apex 

 and rounded or narrowed at the base; they are from 2 to 4 inches long, one-lialf 

 to 2 inches wide, smctoth on the upper surface, and only slightly hairy on the 

 veins on tlie lower surface. The rather showy flowers are produced from .May 

 (o .July in a terminal one-sided spilce : they are from 1 to '2 inches in lengtii. 

 somewhat tube shaixnl, narrowed below, slightly intiated toward the center, and 

 again narrowed or contracted towartl the top. and terminating in live lance- 

 shaped lobes; the flowers are very showy, with their brilliant coloring — bright 

 scarlet on tlie outside, and tlie inside of the tube and the lobes a bright yellow. 

 The seed capsule is double, consisting of two globular ])ortions more or less 

 luiited, and containing numerous seeds. ( I'l. \1, tig. -.) 



Description of rootstoek. — The rootstock is rather small, from 1 to 2 inches 

 in length and about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. It is somewhat 

 crooked or bent, dark brown, with a roughened appearance of the upper surface 

 caused by cup-shaped sc.irs. the remains of former annual stems. The lower 

 surface and the sides have numerous long, finely branched, lighter colored roots, 

 which are rather brittle. IMnkroot has a pleasant, .aromatic odor, and the taste 

 is described as swi'etisb. bitter, and pungent. 



Collection, iiriccs, and n.scs. — IMnkroot is collecteil after the flowering period. 

 It is said to be scarce, and was reported as becoming scarce as long ago as 1830. 

 The price p.-iid to collectors ranges from li.l to 40 <-ents a pound. 



The roots of other i)lants. notably those of the East Tennessee pinkroot 

 (RueUia cHiosa Pursh). are often found mixed with tlie true pinkroot, and the 

 Ruellia cilioxa is even substituted for it. This adulteration or substitution i»roI)- 

 ably accounts for the inertuess which has sometimes been attributed to the 

 true pinkroot and which has caused it to fall into more or less disuse. It has 

 long been known that the true pinkroot was adulterated, but this adulteration 

 was supposed to be caused by the admixture of Carolina phlox {Phlo,r Caro- 

 lina L., now known as Phlo.r orata L. ). but this issaid now to be no part of the 

 substitution." 



The rootstock of Ruellia ciliosa is larger and not as durk as that of the Mary- 

 land pinkroot and has fewer and coarser roots, from which the bark readily 

 separates, leaving the whitish wood ex[)osed. 



Pinkroot was long known l»y the Indians, and its properties were made 

 known to physicians by them. It is otticial in tlie TTnited States Pharmacopoeia, 

 and is used principally as an anthelmintic. 



AMERICAN COLOMBO. 



Frasera cari)Iinen.sis Walt. 



^linonym. — Francra iralteri Michx. 



Other common names. — Frasera. meadowpride, i)yraiiiid-tlower, pyrumid-iilant. 

 Indian- lettuce, yellow gentian, ground-centaury. 



a Bulletin 100, Part V, Bureau of Plant Industry, " The Drug Known as Pink- 

 root." 



107 



