PAPAVERACE^. 43 



jteltate, nearly sessile. Fruit a berry, egg-shaped, 2 inches in length, 

 fleshy, l-celled, many-seeded. Root-stocks, creeping. Koots thick and 

 fibrous. Perennial herb. 



P. peltatum, L. (May Apple. Mandrake.) Stem 1 to 2 feet high, 2-leave(l, 

 1-flowered; flower in the crutch, or fork of the stem, nodding, large, the 

 two parts of the stem bearing each a 1-sided leaf, palmately lobed. Flower 

 white. May. 



Geography. — The Podophyllum is found sparingly in eastern North Amer- 

 ica, from the St. Lawrence to Florida, west on the Kansas, and north near 

 Lake Huron. There is another species found in tlie Iliinahiya Mountains. 



Etymoloqif and History. — Podophy/lnm is derived from the Greek ttovs, a 

 foot, and <pv\Kov, a leaf, on account of the resemblance of the leaf to the foot 

 of a web-footod bird. Peltatum, the specittc name, comes from the Latin jx^lta, 

 a shield, because the foot-stalk is attached to the blade, not at the edge. 



How this plant obtained the name May apple is not apparent, for the fruit 

 does not ripen in May. And wliat gave rise to the popular name mandrake 

 is equally obscure. It is possible that it arose from the simiKirity of the fruit 

 of the Mandragora officinalis of Syria, which is no doubt the mandrake spoken 

 of in the Old Testament. 



Podophyllum was described, figured, and its emetic properties noted by 

 Mark Catesby, in 1731. See Hist, of Carolina. 



Use. — The root of the mandrake, or Podophyllum, yields to the chemist a 

 substance known as Podophyllin. This substance is an active purgative, and 

 is said to promote especially the secretions of the liver and kidneys, and is 

 largely used in bilious attacks. It is also used as an emetic and a vermifuge, 

 and as an alterative in rheumatic affections. It has been for years the 

 principal purgative administered by the Thompsonian practitioners, and is 

 their sub.stitute for calomel. 



Order IIL PAP AVERAGES. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Juice milky, sometimes colored. Leaves 

 alternate, simple or pinnate, lobed or toothed, exstipulate. Flowers 

 regular, terminal, and often solitary. Sepals falling soon, usually two. 

 Petals four, sometimes six, rarely more ; spreading and imbricated in 

 the bud. Stamens numerous, and some multiple of four. Ovary soli- 

 tary; style short; stigmas 2 or more, star-shaped, upon the flat top 

 of the ovary. Fruit pod-shaped, with tw^o divisions, or capsular with 

 several ])artitions. Principal genera, about 24. 



PAPAVER, Tourn. (Poppy.) Calyx composed of 2 thin sepals, falling 

 soon after the expansion of the flower. Corolla 4-petaled, crumpled 

 at top. Stamens numerous, attached below the ovary, l-celled, many- 

 ovuled. Style short, expanding into a broad, persistent stigma. 

 Seed-vessel varying in shape from an oblate to a prolate spheroid, 

 surmounted by the broad, persistent stigma. Seeds kidney-shaped, 

 pitted, very oily. Leaves alternate, lol)ed, or cut ; flowers terminal, 

 on long peduncles ; buds drooping. 



There are about a dozen well-marked species, and as they are grown from 

 seed they sport freely, producing many varieties. The P. somniferum, and 



