78 KERBERIDACEJE. 



with thorny or spiny teeth, resembling those of holly, whence the specific 

 name. 



Habitat. Western coast of North America, from Oregon southward. 



Parts Used. The bark of the stem and root, and the berries not 

 official 



Constituents. The most important constituent of barberry is undoubt- 

 edly berberina, which, however, is present in only small proportion much 

 smaller than in hydrastis. Another principle, oxycanthin, sometimes called 

 berberia, is present, also in small proportion. This is a white alkaloid, 

 soluble in ether, alcohol, and chloroform, nearly insoluble in water, and 

 has a bitter taste. The other constituents of the bark are unimportant. 

 The berries are pleasantly acid, but have no constituents of special value. 



Preparations. There are no official preparations. The bark yields its 

 virtues to alchol and water, and may be administered in tincture or in- 

 fusion. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Whatever therapeutic effect may be pro- 

 duced by barberry is undoubtedly due to its most active principle, ber- 

 berina. As this is present in but small proportion, the bark cannot be a 

 very active agent. The European species, B. vnlgaris, has been used to 

 some extent as a tonic, chiefly in domestic practice. The American species 

 have also been experimented with, but are not much esteemed. The berries 

 are sometimes used to prepare a cooling and refreshing drink in fevers, etc. 



CAULOPHYLLUM. BLUE COHOSH. 



Caulophyllum thalictroides Michaux. Blue Cohosh. 



Description. Calyx : sepals 6, ovate-oblong, greenish-yellow, with 3 

 small bracts at their base. Corolla : petals 6, reniform or hooded, thick 

 and gland-like, with short claws, much shorter than the sepals, and oppo- 

 site them. Stamens 6, hypogynous, opposite the petals, with short, thick 

 filaments ; anthers ovate or oblong, opening upward by two valves hinged 

 at the top. Pistil solitary, gibbous ; style short ; stigma minute and 

 unilateral. The ovary bursts soon after flowering by the development of 

 the seeds, which are thus left naked on their thick stalks, and, having a 

 blue, fleshy integument, they look like drupes. 



An herbaceous perennial, with a nearly horizontal, somewhat branched 

 and knotty rhizome, from which springs a simple smooth and glaucous 

 stem, 1 to 24- feet in height, bearing at its summit a small raceme or pani- 

 cle of greenish -yellow flowers, and a little below a large, sessile, triternately 

 compound leaf. Leaflets 1 to 2 inches long, about half as broad, ob- 

 ovate wedge-shaped. 2- to 3-lobed, the lateral ones sessile, the terminal 

 petiolulate. A smaller triternate leaf is sometimes situated at the base of 

 the panicle. 



The flowers appear in April or May, while the leaf is yet small ; the fruit 



