47 



BARBERRY FAMILY (Berberidaceae) 



BLUE COHOSH (Caulophyllum thalictroides [L.] Michx.) 



PLATE XVIII. 



COMMON NAMES: The blue cohosh is also called papoose-root, squaw- 

 root, blue ginseng, yellow ginseng, blueberry-root. 



DESCRIPTION: The blue cohosh is a perennial from one to three feet 

 high, with an erect stem bearing a large nearly sessile leaf near the summit 

 and a loose cluster of greenish-purple flowers, which are in full bloom 

 before the leaf has unfolded. The whole plant has a peculiar dark greenish 

 purple bloom when young, which gradually disappears with age. The 

 leaf is twice or thrice compound, the first divisions being long-stalked and 

 the leaflets shorter stalked, oval or oblong, with three to five lobes near 

 the apex. The flowers are about one-half inch wide, surrounded by three 

 to four small bracts. The sepals are six, much longer than the six small 

 and rounded petals. The seeds are globular, resembling dark-blue berries, 

 borne on short, stout stalks. The rootstock is horizontal, thick and knotted, 

 with round pits or leaf scars at intervals, each scar representing a year's 

 growth. It is one of the early spring flowers, blooming from April to 

 May. 



DISTRIBUTION: This native Canadian plant is found in the woods 

 from New Brunswick to Manitoba. 



POISONOUS PROPERTIES: Blue cohosh contains the poisonous glu- 

 cosidal saponine, a peculiar substance which, when stirred in water, 

 creates a froth like soap suds. The plant is extremely bitter to the taste 

 and is hardly likely to be eaten except by children tempted by the 

 attractive appearance of the berry-like seeds. Lloyd records blue 

 cohosh, in White's book on dermatitis, as being "very irritant to mucous 

 surfaces, so much so that the dust is very disagreeable." The rootstock 

 is said to contain saponin and the alkaloid caulophylline. 



MAY APPLE (Podophyllum peltatum L.) BARBERRY FAMILY. 



PLATE XIX. 



COMMON NAMES : The may apple is recognized by a variety of popular 

 names, of which the most common are mandrake, umbrella-plant, duck's 

 foot, devil's apple, vegetable calomel, wild or ground lemon. 



DESCRIPTION: The may apple is a perennial of very striking appear- 

 ance. A single stem rises from the underground rootstock to a height of 

 a foot or more, when it forks into two large umbrella-like leaves sheltering 



