CRASSULACEAE SEDUM 503 



Poisonous properties. Sedum acre, according to Dr. Schaffner, produces 

 inflammation and vesication when applied to the skin; it is used to remove 

 the false membrane in diptheria. Dr. White, in his "Dermatitis Venenata," 

 says with reference to the Sedum acre: "Wood states that the whole plant 

 abounds in an acrid, biting juice. Oesterlen says that it is sharply irritative 

 to the skin. The National Dispensatory states that the juice is capable of blis- 

 tering the skin, and that it is used upon corns and warts to soften them, and 

 upon swollen glands as a resolvent. Mr. Cheney, a wholesale dealer in vegeta- 

 ble drugs, informs me that the juice of the green plant is poisonous to the skin 

 of many persons." This plant, however, is not common in the United States. 



ROSACEAE. Rose Family 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees; leaves alternate or some opposite, stipulate, fre- 

 quently falling soon after the leaves appear; flowers regular; stamens generally 

 numerous, distinct, inserted on the calyx ; petals as many as the sepals or rarely 

 wanting; pistils 1-many, generally distinct, except in Pomeae, where the pistil 

 is united to the calyx; fruit various, achenes, follicles, drupes or pomes as in 

 the apple; seeds 1-many, without albumen; embryo straight, with large cotyledons. 

 The order contains about 90 genera and 1500 species of wide distribution; in 

 temperate and tropical regions, some boreal. But few of the plants are nox- 

 ious or have noxious qualities. 



The several cherries, like Prunus serotina and P. virginiana are known to 

 cause stock poisoning, and the seeds when eaten likewise produce fatal results 

 in man. The P. serotina or wild black cherry, is used in medicine, under the 

 name of P. virginiana. The choke cherry (P. virginiana) is also used in med- 

 icine. The bark of the wild black cherry is officinal. It contains tannic and 

 gallic acids, and a volatile oil resembling the volatile oil of bitter almonds. It 

 is used as a tonic and astringent. The leaves of the laurel cherry are used 

 for making cherry laurel water which is a sedative narcotic. From Prunus- 

 Amygdalus, var. amara, native to Asia, is obtained the amygdalin of bitter 

 almonds, which is converted into hydrocyanic acid. This acid is deadly poison, 

 and is obtained from a great many different plants. The leaves of the laurel 

 cherry also contain the same substance. HCN has been found in Prunus 

 paniculata, P. pendula, P. Pennsylvania; Pyrus Aria, P. pinnatifida, P. japon- 

 ica; Crataegus orientalis; Cotoneaster integerrima; Nuttallia cerasiformis; 

 Amelanchier alnifolia; Chamameles japonica. According to Greshoff the leaves 

 of Kageneckia angustifolia contain hydrocyanic acid. The same writer reports 

 this substance in the mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus parvifolius) of the Rocky 

 Mountains. It must be regarded as poisonous. In laurel cherry, it is largely 

 derived from the decomposition of laurocerasin. This species also contains 

 prulaurocerasin. Several species of other orders also might suitably be mentioned 

 here as containing substances capable of being converted into hydrocyanic acid. 

 In this class are the toadstools (Agaricus oreades), bitter cassava (Manihot 

 utilissima) and sorghum (Andropogon Sorghum). 



According to Greshoff Cornus foliolosa, Spiraea japonica and many other 

 plants of the family contain saponin. 



The same . substance is obtained from other plants of the genus Prunus. 

 Oil of roses is obtained from the Rosa damascena, Miller, var. The mucilaginous 

 seeds of the quince (Pyrus Cydonia) have been used in medicine for a long* 

 time. 



