l8 9i-j Life History of Hydrastis Canadensis. 8t 



impregnable strongholds. But the drafts made upon it in 

 pharmacy to supply the growing demand of the medical pro- 

 fession have set upon it that impecunious class, the "sang" 

 and "puccoon" diggers, who have almost exterminated it in 

 many of those regions where it grew in great abundance. 



It may yet be found from the Mississippi river to the 

 Alleghenies, as far north as Canada and to Tennessee on the 

 south, with a limited area of distribution beyond the Missis- 

 sippi, in Missouri and Arkansas 1 . Over most of this terri- 

 tory it is now so thinned out that its collection is 

 not the commercial success it formerly was. The 

 above boundaries very nearly mark the extent of the distribu- 

 tion it had attained on the earth's surface in its most flourish- 

 ing time. 



But, in this region of central Indiana, within the area of its 

 former natural abundance, I have demonstrated by experi- 

 ments of some years' duration, that it can be successfully 

 grown by giving it as 'far as possible the surroundings that it 

 had in the pioneer days of the country. It endures close as- 

 sociation with but few other herbs, yet the shade afforded by 

 many of the shrubs and forest trees, if not too dense, seems 

 to be a requirement essential to its perfect growth and devel- 

 opment. ' The grasses are its deadly enemies, and ground 

 that is trodden will not support it. Under such conditions it 

 quickly perishes. A single large plant, removed from the 

 woods to a suitable situation, I have observed in several in- 

 stances to spread so that an area of five or six feet in diam- 

 eter would be occupied in eight or ten years time, without any 

 artificial aid, save the keeping in subjection of all other en- 

 croaching plants. 



Individual characteristics are noted, as marking with more 

 or less variation each group or patch of plants, indicating, 

 that though Hydrastis is a recluse among plants, and presents 

 some deviations that are remarkable, yet this one feature 

 which it possesses in common with most representatives of the 

 vegetable kingdom, may lead through judicious selection and 

 the careful study of its habits of growth, to the establishment, 

 in time, of new varieties. This possibility the following obser- 

 vations of three district patches, originating from plants ob- 

 tained from different points, and grown on my grounds, seem 

 to show: 



1 Lloyd's Drugs and Medicines of North America, vol. 1, no. 3, pi. IX. 



