j'Ti, ji 



BLACK SNAKEROOT < Sanidc. Stick-Tights) 



Sanicula marilandica L. 



May - June In the div woods there comes tlie wocdy-looking phiiit 

 Woods called sanide or hlack suakeroot, with its somewhat aro- 



matic leaves and stem and its reputation lor healing. 

 Tiong ago when the ])lant was named Sanicula, the name was derived 

 Iroiu .'<(inus, the Latin word meaning to licaJ. It is nut s{)ecified just 

 what ailment the sanicle healed, but at one time a tonic was made of tiie 

 juices from its roots and ])roba])ly this brew was poured down the throats 

 of the ailing young and ohl in the ])i()neer days of Ameriea. 



The i)hint of saniele is slendi-r and rather interesting from the stand- 

 |)oint of its groups of spreading, glossy, bright green leaves with their 

 deep toothing and incised veining. From the groups of leaves which 

 grow in whorls when* tlie stems ])ranch, the sloiuhu' flower stems jut out 

 at graceful angles. The llowers are tiny single heads of greenish-yellow 

 blossoms, not Ijcautilul as one thinks of a beautiful tlower, but neverthe- 

 less completely equipped to pnHluce seeds to ])erpetuate sanicle in the 

 Illinois woods. 



These seeds in late sunnuer and autumn are iunong the many hitc-h- 

 hiking seeds which leave the ])arent plant, travel elsewhere by means of 

 some other creature's locomotion, and start a new colony. Sanicle has 

 small, round, hard seeds covered with short, soft, curving prickles. 

 When any fal)ric or fur l)rushes |)ast the sanicle fruits tlu-y immediately 

 are se))arated from the ])lant and go off. loiter, the seeds are dislodged 

 from their carrier, fall to the ground and next year there are sanicle 

 ])lants in that spot. 



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