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A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY. 



Europe. These latter plants probably contain also the alkaloid 

 protopine which is apparently identical with fumarine. 



Satiguinaria canadcnsis or bloodroot, the rhizome of which is 

 official. The plant is a small, herbaceous, perennial herb with a red 

 latex. The rhizome is horizontal, short and thick, and gives rise 

 to a single, petiolate, palmately 5- to 9-lobed leaf and a single 

 white flower with a long peduncle (Fig. 308). The capsule is 



FlG. 306. Poppy fields in the meadows 8 miles northwest of Ping-li, Shensi, China, 

 showing the plants with large terminal flowers. Reproduced by permission of The Phila- 

 delphia Commercial Museum. 



oblong, 2-valved, and contains a number of smooth but crested 

 seeds. 



Chelidonium ma jus (celandine) is the source of the herb 

 CHELIDONIUM which was formerly official. The plant is a delicate 

 branching herb about 0.5 M. high ; with alternate, deeply pinnati- 

 fid leaves ; yellow flowers ; slender elongated capsule resembling 

 that of the mustards, and a yellow latex in every part. Celandine 

 is indigenous to Europe and Asia and is common in waste places 

 in the United States. The drug contains the following alkaloids : 



