564 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



be quickly dried in the sun and then kept in tightly closed vessels. 

 The leaves will retain their green color if properly cured. The odor 

 is still very disagreeable, but not so pronounced as in the fresh 

 plant. This very poisonous drug is used in rheumatism, neuralgia, 

 asthma, and in cases where the nervous system is in an excited 

 condition. The imports of conium or poison hemlock seed amount 

 to about 20,000 pounds _ annually, and from 10,000 to 20,000 

 pounds of the leaves are imported. The price paid for the seed is 

 about 3 cents per pound, and for the leaves about 4 cents. 



American Wormseed (Chenopodium ambrosioides). Mexican 

 tea, Spanish tea, Jerusalem tea, Jesuit tea, ambrosia. This strong- 

 scented herb, naturalized in this country from tropical America, 

 frequents waste places around dwellings and is found in streets, 

 meadows, pastures, and grain fields from New England to Florida, 

 and westward to California. American wormseed is an annual 

 plant of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiacese) , attaining a height 

 of from 2 to 3 feet. The stem is grooved, usually much branched 

 and leafy. From July to September the flowers are produced, fol- 

 lowed throughout the autumn by the fruits, both of which are 

 green and borne in crowded leafy spikes. The whole plant has a 

 powerful, disagreeable odor, due to the essential oil which it con- 

 tains. The entire leafy part of the plant is sometimes employed for 

 the distillation of the oil, although the fruit alone is listed in the 

 Pharmacopoeia of the United States. The fruit is distilled for the 

 oil, which it contains in large quantities. The fruits are in the 

 form of small grains, about the size of a pin head, globular but 

 slightly flattened, greenish, and inclosing the small shining black 

 seeds. They have the same powerful odor as the plant, which does 

 not diminish when the fruit is dried, and the taste is bitter and 

 pungent. American wormseed is an anthelmintic ; that is, it has 

 the property of expelling worms. 



The fruits of Chenopodium anthelminticum, another species 

 of wormseed, are collected with those of the species just described. 

 This plant is very similar to the American wormseed, the fruits 

 being alike, and the only differences being that in Chenopodium an- 

 thelminticum the stem is slightly taller, from 2 1 /2 to 3% feet high, 

 the leaves are more coarsely toothed, the flowers are borne in more 

 elongated, usually leafless spikes, the odor is more pronounced and 

 disagreeable, and the range and distribution of the plant are more 

 limited. Wormseed is cultivated to a considerable extent in parts 

 of Maryland, where the distillation of the plant for the oil is car- 

 ried on. In ordinary seasons the price paid for chenopodium or 

 wormseed ranges from 6 to 8 cents per pound. The oil distilled 

 from wormseed is at present selling at $1.50 per pound. 



Black Mustard (Brassica nigra). Brown mustard, red mus- 

 tard. The tops may be pulled when most of the pods are nearly 

 mature, but before they are ready to spring open. They should 

 then be placed on a clean, dry floor or shelf, allowing the pods to 

 ripen and dry out, when they will burst open and the seeds can be 

 readily shaken out. 



