80 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



scattered yellow fibro vascular bundles; odor slight; taste bitter 

 and acrid. 



Roots yellowish-brown, nearly cylindrical, 3 to 8 cm. long, 2 to 

 3 mm. in diameter; externally yellowish-brown, longitudinally or 

 transversely wrinkled; internally, bark white, 1 to 2 mm. thick; 

 wood porous, cylindrical; fracture short. 



FIG. 29. Plants of Veratrum viride growing in the Royal Botanic Society's 

 Gardens (London) and showing the parallel veined (or nerved) leaves with 

 entire margin, and the large terminal panicles of flowers. After Perre'des. 



European or White Hellebore closely resembles the American 

 Hellebore, but the color varies from light- to yellowish-brown and 

 usually the rootlets are removed. 



The drug should be kept in tightly closed vessels, and the leaf 

 and stem bases, if present, should be removed. 



