62 AMERICAN EOOT DRUGS. 



Another species which is collected with this and for similar purposes, and by 

 some regarded as only a variety, is the spotted boneset or spotted joe-pye-weed 

 {Eiiixitoriuni macuJainm L.). This is very similar to E. pi(ri)ureiniu but it does 

 not grow so tall, is rough-hairy, and has the stem spotted with iiurple. The 

 thicker leaves are coarsely toothed and in Avhorls of three to five, and the 

 tlower clusters are tiattened at the top rather than elongated as in E. purpnreum. 



:t is found in moist soil from New York to Kentucky, westward to Kansas, 

 New Mexico, Minnesota, and as far up as British Columbia. 



Description of root. — Queen-of-the-meadow root, as it occurs in commerce, is 

 blackish and woody, furnished with numerous long dark-brown tibers, which 

 are furrowed or wrinkled lengthwise and whitish within. It has a bitter, 

 aromatic, and astringent taste. 



Collection, prices, aiid uses. — The root is collected in autumn and is used 

 for its astringent and diuretic properties. It was otticial in the United States 

 Fharmacopeeia from 1S2U to 1840. The price ranges from 2* to i cents a pound. 



ELECAMPANE. 



Iinilii liilciiiinii 1j. 



Other coiiniioii iitnncs. — Inula, inul. horseheal. elf-dock, elfwort. borse-ekler, 

 scabwort, yellow starwort. velvet dock, wild sunflower. 



Habitat (iiid nimje. — This perennial herb has been naturalized from Europe, 

 and is found along roadsides and in fields and damp i»astures from Nova Scotia 

 to North Carolina, westward to Missouri and Minnesota. It is native also in 

 Asia. 



Description of plant. — When in flower elecampane resembles the sunflower on 

 a small scale. Like the sunflower, it is a member of the aster family ( Astera- 

 cete). It is a rough plant, growing from 3 to G feet in height, but producing 

 during the first year only root leaves, which attain considerable size. In the 

 following season the stout densely hairy stem develops, attaining a height of 

 from 3 to G feet. 



The leaves are broadly oblong in form, toothed, the upper surface rough and 

 the under side denselj" soft-hairy. The basal or root leaves are borne on long 

 stems, and are from 10 to 20 inches long and 4 to 8 inches wide, while the upper 

 leaves are smaller and stemless or clasping. 



About July to September the terminal flower heads are produced, either singly 

 or a few together. As already stated, these flower heads look very much like 

 small sunflowers, 2 to 4 inches broad, and consist of long, narrow, yellow rays, 

 3 toothed at the apex, and the disk also is yellow. (PI. VII, fig. 3.) 



Description of root. — Elecampane has a. large, long, branching root, pale yel- 

 low on the outside and whitish and fleshy within. (PI. VII, fig. 3.) When 

 dry the outside turns a grayish brown or dark brown, and is generally finely 

 wrinkled lengthwise. As found in commerce, elecampane is usually in trans- 

 verse or lengthwise slices, light yellow or grayish and fleshy internally, dotted 

 with numerous shining resin cells, and with overlapping brown and wrinkled 

 bark. These slices become flexible in damp weather, and tough, but when they 

 are dry they break with a short fracture. The root has at first a strongly 

 aromatic odor, which has been described by some as resembling a violet odor, 

 but this diminishes in drying. The taste is aromatic, bitterish, and pungent. 



Collection, prices, and uses.— The best time for collecting elecampane is in 

 the fall of the second year. If collected later than that the roots are apt to 

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