Chap. 7. 



BOTANY OF VERMONT. 



221 



BERRIES. MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



tertain their visitants with a dessert of 

 white black-berries. 



The barberry bush grows well in most 

 parts of the state, but so little use is made 

 of the berry that no effort is made to mul- 

 tiply it. Two kinds of cranberries, the 

 high and the low, are common in many of 

 the swamps, and preserved in sugar they 

 make an agreeable and wholesome sauce. 

 Of slrmchcrries there are several kinds. 

 The wild, or woods strawberry, though a 

 pleasant fruit, is not found in sufficient 

 quantities to be an object of much regard. 

 The common field strawberry is diffused 

 over the whole state, and in its season af- 

 fords considerable quantities of delicious 

 fruit, though it seldom grows to a large 

 size. Several varieties of foreign straw- 

 berries are cultivated in gardens. Some 

 of these grow to a great size, and with 

 proper attention a small plot of ground 

 may be made to yield a very large quan- 

 tity of choice fruit. The fox and frost 

 grapes grow wild in most parts of the 

 state, and several e.xotic grapes are suc- 

 cessfully cultivated in gardens, and bear 

 well. The large purple grape endures 

 our climate and ripens its fruit without 

 protection, and this is undoubtedly the 

 most profitable for general cultivation. 

 The more choice varieties must either be 

 housed or buried to preserve them through 

 the winter, and many of them require pro- 

 tection and artificial heat, in order to 

 bring their fruit to maturity. In addition 

 to the above, we have the hobbleberry, 

 the mulberry, the oheckcrberry, the par- 

 tridge berry, and some others which are 

 eaten, and several kinds, as the sumac, 

 elder, juniper, &c., which are used in 

 medicine or the arts. 



Medicinal Plants. — The native vegeta- 

 ;bles of Vermont already contribute some- 

 what to the MateriaMedicaof the country, 

 and when the medicinal properties of our 

 plants become better known, it is proba- 

 ble that the list of those which deserve to 

 be employed in the healing art will be 

 greatly increased. We are of the num- 

 ber of those who Jook with much more 

 confidence to the vegetable than to the. 

 mineral kingdom, for antidotes to the va- 

 rious diseases and ills which flesh is heir 

 to. Not tiiat we would go to the lengths 

 of some of our name, and banisli all miner- 

 al substances from our pharmacopoeia, but, 

 being fully persuaded that for removing a 

 great majority of diseases, the remedies 

 derived from the vegetable kingdom are 

 not only more effectual, but far more safe 

 than those derived from the mineral king- 

 dom, we would gladly see the medicinal 

 properties of our plants more thoroughly 

 iiivestigaied, their reputed virtues can- 



vassed, and their proper places assigned 

 them among ^the articles of our materia 

 'niedica. 



In the preceding account of our forest 

 trees, we have briefly mentioned the me- 

 dicinal purposes to which the parts of sev- 

 eral of them are applied. We had inten- 

 ded in this place to notice a- few of the 

 many herbs and roots which are, or have 

 been, of repute for their medicinal vir- 

 tues, but we have not room. We would, 

 however, remark that the Ginseng, Panax 

 qldnqucfolin, was the first medicinal root 

 which attracted much attention in this 

 state, and is the only one which has been 

 to any considerable extent an article of 

 exportation. This root had long been re- 

 garded in China as a 2)aiino:a, and was 

 supposed to be indigenous only in that 

 country and Tartary, till 1720, when it 

 was discovered by the Jesuit Lafiinn, in 

 the forests of Canada. Such was the de- 

 mand for the root in China, at that peri- 

 od, that it soon became a considerable ar- 

 ticle of commerce. Upon the settlement 

 of this state the ginseng was found to 

 grow here in great plenty and perfection, 

 and it soon began to be sought with ea- 

 gerness for exportation. For many years 

 it was purchased at nearly all the retail 

 stores in the state, and was sent to the 

 seaports to be shipped to China. Those 

 who dug the root sold it in its crude state 

 for about 2 shillings or 34 cents per lb., 

 and it was so plentiful in some places that 

 digging it was a profitable business. The 

 root is a mild, pleasant, and wholsome 

 bitter, but it has never ranked very high 

 as a medicine in this country, and its ex- 

 portation and the clearing of the country 

 has rendered it scarce. 



Flowering Plants. This state is partic- 

 ularly rich, considering its northern sit- 

 uation and mountainous surface, in beau- 

 tiful flowering plants. Several of these 

 have already been noticed in the observa- 

 tions preliminary to the preceding cata- 

 logue. Among our most singular flower- 

 ing shrubs may be mentioned the Witch 

 Hazel, HnmomcUs Virginica. This shrub 

 puts forth its modest yellow blossoms us- 

 ually in October, after the leaves have 

 been killed by the frost, but the seed is 

 not matured till the following year. 



Poisonous Plants, which are natives of 

 Vermont, are not numerous. Enough, 

 however, e.xist to render caution necessa- 

 ry in gathering herbs, either for food or 

 medicine. A few poisonous plants have 

 also been introduced, and to some extent 

 naturalized. Oftiiese maybe mentioned 

 the poison hemlock, which may be seen 

 growing in many places by the road- 

 sitles. 



