CO MPTO NI A SWEET-FERN. 251 



of calyx and corolla, the solitary flowers being placed each under a scaly 

 bract, with a pair of bractlets. Stamens 2 to 8. Ovary with 2 to 4 scales 

 at its base ; stigmas 2. Fruit an ovoid nut or drupe, covered with whitish 

 wax. 



A shrub, 3 to 8 feet high. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, narrowed at the 

 base, entire or somewhat toothed toward the apex, shining and resinous- 

 dotted both sides, fragrant, appearing late in April before the flowers. 

 Nuts scattered or clustered along the last year's branches, sometimes per- 

 sisting for two or three years.- 



Habitat. In sandy or rocky places on or along the coast. 



Parts Used. The bark and wax not official. 



Constituents. Besides common vegetable principles, there are in bay- 

 berry bark an acrid resin, an astringent resin, and a peculiar acrid acid, 

 termed myricinic acid. Myrtle wax in mass, after separation from the 

 fruit, is greenish-gray in color, with a consistence intermediate between 

 that of beeswax and tallow. It burns with a white flame and a fragrant 

 odor. 



Preparations. There are no official preparations. The bark has been 

 used chiefly in powder and in decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Bayberry bark is an acrid stimulant 

 and astringent. In moderate doses it produces a sensation of heat in the 

 stomach ; in large closes, nausea and vomiting. The powder is very irri- 

 tating to the nasal mucous membranes, and produces violent sneezing. It 

 has been employed to some extent in a great variety of diseased conditions, 

 but without acquiring reputation in any. Bigelow stated, sixty years ago, 

 as the result of his investigations, that it is " more interesting in a chemi- 

 cal than a medical point of view ; " and his statement, in the present state 

 of our knowledge, scarcely requires comment or revision. 



COMPTONIA. SWEET-FERN. 



Com pto n i a as p I e n if o I i a Aiton. Sweet-Fern. 



Description. Flowers monoecious and dioecious. Staminate flowers in 

 cylindrical catkins with imbricated, concave, reniform, acuminate, 1-flowered 

 scales ; stamens 3 to 6. Pistillate flowers in egg-shaped, burr-like catkins ; 

 ovary surrounded by 8 long, linear, awl-shaped scales, which are persistent 

 around the ovoid-oblong, smooth, 1-seeded nut. 



A low shrub, 1 to 3 feet high, slender, branched, somewhat hairy. 

 Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, 3 to 4 inches long by half an inch broad, 

 deeply pinnatifid with many rounded lobes, resembling those of a fern. 

 This resemblance, together with the fragrance of the leaves, has given the 

 plant the popular name of sweet-fern. 



Habitat. In dry sterile or sandy soil from Virginia to Wisconsin and 

 northward. 



