CLASSIFICATION OF ANGIOSPERMS. 725 



Leucanthemum) yields about 0.15 per cent, of a greenish volatile 

 oil with the odor of chamomile and mint. 



CHICORY, the root of Cichorium Intybus, a perennial herb 

 with blue or purplish ligulate florets, indigenous to and cultivated in 

 Europe and naturalized in the United States (Fig. 395), is used 

 in medicine as well as in the preparation of a coffee substitute. 

 The root is spindle-shaped, somewhat resembling Taraxacum, but 

 is of a light brown color and the laticiferous vessels are arranged 

 in radial rows in the somewhat thinner bark. It contains a bitter 

 principle and a large amount of inulin. In the preparation of a 

 coffee substitute the root is cut into rather large, equal pieces and 

 roasted, after which it is ground to a yellowish-brown, coarse 

 powder. The grains are heavier than water, imparting to it a 

 yellowish-brown color. Under the microscope it is distinguished 

 by the branching latex-tubes and rather short, oblique tracheae 

 with rather large, simple pores. 



The SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus) is an annual herb indig- 

 enous to tropical America and extensively cultivated. The plant 

 is grown on a large scale in Russia, Hungary, Italy and India for 

 its fruits, which yield a fixed oil resembling that of cotton seed. 

 The achenes (so-called seeds) are obovate, flattened, externally 

 black or with alternate white and black stripes, the pappus con- 

 sisting of two deciduous, chaffy scales. Sunflower seed-cake is 

 readily distinguished by a few of the fragments of the epicarp, 

 with the characteristic twin, unicellular, non-glandular hairs and 

 large, oblique, but rather short, sclerenchymatous fibers. Besides 

 40 per cent, of a fixed oil, the seeds contain a peculiar glucosidal 

 tannin, helianthic acid, which is colored deep green with ferric 

 chloride and yellow with alkalies. The root contains inulin ; the 

 shoot asparagin, and the fresh pith about 1.5 per cent, of potas- 

 sium nitrate. The pith has been used in the preparation of 

 MOXA, a combustible vegetable material which burns without fus- 

 ing and is used by the Portuguese to destroy any deep-seated 

 inflammation. The pith of various species of Artemisia, which 

 also contains considerable potassium nitrate, furnishes the Chinese 

 Moxa. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (Helianthus tuber osus) is a large, 

 coarse, pubescent herb with yellow ray-florets, which is indigenous 



