104 MALVACEvE. 



Habitat. — A native of Europe, sonpwort has escaped from pfardens and 

 is often met with fully ostabliahcd in waste places and along roadsides. 



Part Used. — The root — not ofHcial. 



Const ilucnti<. — Soaowort has a sweetish, glutinous, and somewhat l)itter 

 taste, followed by a certain degree of acrimony. Its only important con- 

 stituent is saponin, which causes decoctions of the root, upon agitation, to 

 produce a saponaceous froth. 



Preparations. — There are none. It may be emi)loyed in decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — A hundred years or more ago soai)wort 

 was believed to be a vahiable alterative, and was employed in syphilis, 

 gout, rheumatism, etc., with effects similar to those attributed to sar^a- 

 parilla. Little has been added t(/our knowledge of the plant since then. 

 As it, in common with quilLiia [soapi-hark-), contains saponin, it might rea- 

 sonably be employed for the same purjioses as the latter. That saponin, 

 the active principle of these plants, is physiologicall}' active is beyond 

 question, but its therapeutic eft'ects require further investigation. 



SILENE.— CJatcii Fi,y. 



Silene Virginica Linne. — Fire Pink, Catch Fly. 



Description. — Calyx : sepals united, forming an oblong-cylindrical 

 tube, 5-toothed at the apex, viscid-pubescent. Corolla : petals 5, oblong, 

 limb 2-cleft, 1 inch long. Stamens 10, longer than the calyx. Styles 3, 

 rarely 4. Capsule 1-celled, 3- or G-toothed at the apex, many-seeded. 



A viscid -pubescent perennial herb, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves thin, the 

 lower sj)atulate, upper oblong-lanceolate. Flowers few, large, deep crim- 

 son, peduncled, in loose cymes, appearing from June to August. 



Habilat. — In rich, open woods from Canada to Georgia and westward to 

 the Mississippi. Rare in New York and New England. 



Part Used. — The root — not official. 



Constituents. — Unknown. 



Preparations. — There are none. It has been used in decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — From Barton we learn that this plant 

 was used in Virginia as an anthelmintic, but ho seems to have had no 

 personal experience with it ; and since his time we have no record of ex- 

 periments to test its efficacy. 



MALVACE/E. 



Character of the Order. — Herbs or shrubs, with alternate, stijiulate, pal- 

 mately veined leaves and regular tlowers. Sepals 5, united at the base, 

 valvate in the bud, persistent, often bearing an involucre of bracts outside, 

 forming a kind of external calyx. Petals 5, convolute in the bud, often large 

 and showy. Stamens indefinite, hypogynous ; filaments coherent, forming 



