108 MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



float as a thin layer, and one's fingers may now be repeatedly 

 thrust into the water and withdrawn without becoming wet 

 in the least. Its waterproof nature gives lycopodium some 

 value as an application to moist, inflamed surfaces of the 

 body, and makes the spores useful also as a covering for 



Fig. 160. — Sassafras {Satssufras officinale. Laurel Family, Lauracece). A, 

 flowering twig of staminate plant. B, branch bearing leaves and fruit. 

 C, staminate flower. D, pistillate flower. E, stamen, showing nectar 

 glands at base of filament, and anther opening by iip-turned valves. 

 F, pistil, cut >-ertically. (Berg and Schmidt.) — Tree growing 20- 

 30 m. tall; young branches green; leaves becoming smooth, aromatic; 

 flowers yellow; fruit blue on red stalks. Native home. Eastern North 

 America. 



moist pills to prevent their sticking together. The large 

 amount of fixed oil contained in the spores renders them, 

 moreover, very inflammable, and has led to their use in the 

 manufacture of fireworks, and also as a means of producing 

 artificial lightning in private theatricals. 



