PLANTS FURNISHINC. ROOT DRUGS. 



61 





whitish harli marked witli t-lrcles of niiUi diuts aiul a thin woody coiitiT. which 

 IS yellow and porous. It is practically without odor and has a hitttn- taste. 



Vullrction iniil ».se.s.— Late in summer an<l in fall the milky juice Iteoomes 

 thicker and the bitterness increases, and this is the time to collect dandelion 

 root. It should be carefully washed and thoroujihly dried. Dandelion roots lose 

 (onsiderably in drying:, weighing less than half as nuich as the fresh roots. The 

 dried root should not 

 be kept too long, as 

 drying dnninishes its 

 medicinal activity. It 

 is oihcial in the United 

 States I'harmacopfPia. 



Dandelion i s used 

 as a tonic in diseases 

 of the liver and in 

 dyspepsia. 



IiiilKirtKOiiiliiricex. — 

 Most of the dandelion 

 root found on the mar- 

 ket is collected in cen- 

 t r a 1 Euro))*'. There 

 has been an unusual'.y 

 large demand for dan- 

 delion root during the 

 season of VMM. an<l 

 a cc o r ding to the 

 weekly records con- 

 tained in the "Oil, 

 Paint, and Drug Re- 

 porter." the imi)orts 

 entered at the i)ort of New York from January 1, l'.»iT. to the i^\u\ of May 

 amounted to about 47.(i()0 pounds. The pri((> ranges from 4 to 10 cents a pound. 



Fii;. 24.— Dandelion (Tnraxaciim officinale). 



C^UEEN-OF-THE- MEADOW. 



Eupatorium intriiu renin L. 



Other common names. — Gravelroot. Indian gravelroot. joe-pye-weed. purple 

 boneset, tall boneset. kidneyroot. king-of-the-meadow. marsh-milkweed, mother- 

 wort, niggerweed. (luillwort. slunkweed. triuupetweed. 



Habitat and ranye. — This common native perennial herb occurs in low grounds 

 and dry woods and meadows from Canada to Florida and Texas. 



Description of plant. — The stout, erect, green or purple stem of this plan( 

 grows from o to 10 feet in height, and is usually smooth, simple or branched 

 at the top. The thin, veiny leaves are 4 to 12 inches 1 .ng. 1 to 3 inches wide, 

 ovate or ovate lance shaped, sharp pointed, toothed, and placed around the 

 stem in whorls of three to six. While the upper surface of the leaves is smooth, 

 there is usually a slight hairiness along the veins on the lower surface, other- 

 wise smooth. Toward the latter part of the sunuuer and in early fall queen- 

 of-the-meadow is in tlower. producing ." to 15 flowered pink or purplish heads, 

 all aggregated in large compound clusters, which present a rather showy 

 appearance. (PI. VII, fig. 2.) This plant belongs to the aster family (Aster- 

 acete). 

 107 



