273 IRIS FLORENTINA 



Official Part and Name. IEIS FLORENTINA. The rhizome 

 (U. S. P. Secondary). Not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, 

 or the Pharmacopoeia of India. 



Production and Commerce. Orris rhizome, or orris root as it is 

 commonly called, is derived indiscriminately in Tuscany, from 

 three species of iris, namely, I. florentina, I. germanica, and /. 

 pallida, the two latter species from being most abundant, probably 

 furnishing the largest quantity. These species are known to the 

 peasantry under the common name of Giaggiolo. The rhizomes 

 are dug up in August, and are then trimmed, peeled, and dried in 

 the sun, and are ultimately separated by the dealers who purchase 

 them of the peasants into different qualities, selected and sorts. 

 Orris rhizome is exported from Leghorn, Trieste, and Mogador. 



General Characters and Composition. Orris rhizome of commerce 

 occurs in pieces of from 2 to 4 inches in length, and from about 

 i to 1J inch in width. These pieces present an irregular, some- 

 what conical form, with usually two or three short branches at their 

 broader end. They have a flattened appearance, and are more or less 

 arched, and frequently twisted, somewhat shrivelled, and furrowed. 

 On the lower surface they are marked with small roundish scars, 

 which are left by the cutting off of the rootlets. They are firm 

 and compact in texture, and of a dull whitish colour. Their taste 

 is bitterish, faintly aromatic, and subsequently acrid ; and they 

 have an agreeable violet odour. This odour is not present in the 

 fresh rhizomes, which have simply an earthy smell, but is gradually 

 produced by drying and keeping, not being fully developed 

 until the rhizomes are two years old. 



The principal constituent of orris rhizome would appear to be 

 a solid crystalline substance, called orris camphor, which is always 

 found on the surface of the distillate when orris rhizome is dis- 

 tilled with water. According to Umney, the yield of this substance 

 is about 0*12 per cent. The authors of Pharmacographia believe 

 the crystals which may be obtained from it, by purification, " to be 

 simply myristic acid, impregnated with a little essential oil, which 

 they obstinately retain." Orris rhizome also contains resin and 

 some tannic acid. 



