4i8 BOTANY AND PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Plants which yield drugs may grow wild, as is most usually 

 the case, or they may be cultivated, as those yielding anthemis, 

 cannabis indica and the solanaceous leaves. Plants growing in 

 their native countries are said to be indigenous to those regions, 

 as Stillingia sylvatica, of the Southern United States ; Aconitum 

 Napellus, of the mountainous regions of Europe, etc. Plants are 

 said to be naturalized when they grow in foreign land or in 

 another locality than their native home. Some of these may have 

 been distributed by natural agencies, or they may have escaped 

 from cultivation, or they may have been introduced with the seeds 

 of cultivated plants or with the ballast of ships. 



The term commercial origin applies solely to the drugs them- 

 selves, and indicates their commercial source, which may be either 

 the country where the plant yielding the drug is grown, or the 

 port from which the drug is sent into the marts of the world. 

 English hyoscyamus leaves are gathered from plants grown in 

 England; Canton rhubarb is the product of plants grown in 

 various parts of China, but shipped by way of Canton. 



The official or phar^macopceial titles of vegetable drugs are 

 derived from either the generic name of the plant, as gelsemium, 

 or the specific name, as ipecacuanha, or they may include both the 

 generic and specific names, as viburnum prunifolium, or they may 

 be derived from other sources, as opium and sarsaparilla. 



In addition to the botanical names of plants and the pharma- 

 copoeial titles of drugs, a number of vernacular names and syno- 

 nyms are also applied to vegetable drugs, as licorice root for 

 glycyrrhiza, prickly ash for xanthoxylum. 



The official or pharmacopceial definition of drugs is given 

 in the leading paragraph under each drug in the dilTerent pharma- 

 copoeias, and includes the botanical origin as well as the name of 

 the part of the plant yielding the drug ; and in some cases other 

 special features or requirements are given, as the habitat of the 

 plant yielding the drug, the time of collection, mode of preserva- 

 tion, etc. 



The time of the collection of vegetable drugs is of prime 

 importance, and, while we may not be able to make extended 

 generalizations, still, the following general rules for the collection 

 of various drugs may be given : 



