YERBA SANTA 561 



ERIODICTYON. Yerba Santa. The dried leaves of Eriodictyon 

 calif ornicum (Syn. E. glutinosum), Fam. Hydrophyllacese, an 

 evergreen shrub indigenous to the mountains of California and north- 

 ern Mexico. 



Description. Usually broken into fragments; lamina lanceolate, 

 7 to 15 cm. in length, 1 to 3 cm. in breadth; summit acute; base 

 acute, slightly tapering into the petiole; margin nearly entire or 

 unevenly serrate; upper surface yellowish-green, glabrous, resinous; 

 under surface grayish-green, reticulate, minutely tomentose between 

 the reticulations, midrib light yellow, prominent; petiole 5 to 10 

 mm. in length; texture coriaceous, brittle; odor and taste balsamic. 



Inner Structure. Cells of upper epidermis somewhat papillose, 

 which in surface view are polygonal, the walls being nearly straight 

 or slightly undulate, the cuticle being striated ; deep seated, resinous 

 glandular hairs also occur on the upper epidermis, which resemble 

 those of the Labiates having usually a 1-celled stalk and a 6- to 8- 

 celled glandular head, about 0.100 mm. in diameter; palisade cells 

 very narrow, from 2 to 6 rows deep containing numerous chloro- 

 plastids; cells of loose mesophy 11 very few; fibrovascular tissues not 

 strongly developed except in the midrib and more prominent veins; 

 lower epidermal cells having undulate, polygonal walls and in addi- 

 tion to the glandular hairs there occur numerous 1-celled, much 

 contorted, thick-walled, non-glandular hairs. 



Stems usually show a sub-epidermal cork, the cells having wide 

 lumina and thin walls; primary cortex of 10 to 20 rows of more or 

 less rounded parenchyma cells; pericycle consisting of a nearly closed 

 ring of bast fibers; leptome in a narrow zone outside the xylem 

 wedges; the latter consisting of tracheae, having narrow lumina and 

 marked by spiral thickenings and simple pores, and associated with 

 lignified wood fibers having bordered pores; medullary rays one cell 

 in width ; pith very large, the walls of the cells being strongly lignified 

 and with numerous simple pores. 



Powder. Dark green; non-glandular hairs numerous, uni- 

 cellular, much contorted and from 0.120 to 0.250 mm. in length; 

 glandular hairs having a 1-celled stalk and a 6- to 8-glandular head ; 

 fragments of stems show tracheae having spiral thickenings and sim- 

 ple pores, associated with lignified wood fibers; parenchyma cells of 

 pith possess thick, porous, strongly lignified walls. 



Constituents. A resin consisting of pentatriacontan, cerotinic 

 acid, formic acid, butyric acid and probably also triacontan, phy- 

 tosterin, xanthoeriodictyol, priodonal and a phenol, chrysoerio- 

 dictyol. The latter occurring to the extent of 0.009 per cent and 



