150 UMBELLIFER^. 



of little use in doteruiining the genera, -which must ho studied by the 

 fruits, loaves, etc. 



The (H-dor is represented in North America by forty-five genera com- 

 prising one hundred and sixty-eiglit species, few of which are of medicinal 

 importance. 



• 



SANICULA.— Sanui.k. 



Sanicula Marilandica Linno. — Sanidc, Iliad: Smkoroot. 



Ih'^vriptioii. — Calyx-teeth persistent. Petals obovate, erect, connivcnt, 

 with a long inllexed point, greenish or yellowish. Styles elongate- 1 and 

 conspicuous, recurved. Fruit globular, the cari:)els not separating at ma- 

 turity, without ribs, thickly set 'th hooked prickles, and having each 5 

 oil-tubes. 



A perennial herb, 2 to 3 feet high. Leaves digitately 5- to 7-parted, the 

 segments incisely and nuicronately serrate, the radical ones long-petioled. 

 Umbels iri-egidur or compound, tlie llowers capitate in tlie und)ellets, most 

 of them perfect but with many staminate ones intermingled, the latter on 

 slender pedicels. Fruits several in each umbellet. 



JIahifat. — "^^'oods and copses, Canada to Carolina and westward ; every- 

 where common. 



I'art Usrd. — The root — not official. 



Const ituoits. — Un known. 



T'rcparafions. — It is administered in powder or decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uae.^. — Perhap" it would be Avell to state that 

 the medical properties of sanicde, if it have any, are, like its constituents, 

 uidvuown, thouj'h various and contradictoiy properties have been ascribed 

 to it ; as, for instance, that it is nervine, anodyne, and astringent, and tluit 

 it h.as been used with advantage in intermittent fever, sore thiv^at, cynanche 

 ti'achealis, erysipelas, some &kin diseases, chorea, gonorrhoea, dysentery, 

 passive liemorrhages, and leucorrhcea, Until further evidence be adduced 

 in its favor, one may reasonably remain skeptical regarding its virtues. 



ERYXGIU; i .— EiivNGO. 



Eryngium yucccefolium Miclinxix.—Jlattlesnak'c's jMaster, Button 

 Snakerodt. 



D' script ii i». — Calyx-teeth persistent. Petals oonnivent, ol )long-obovate, 

 emirgiuate, a itli a very h g inllexed point. Styles filiform. Carp'ds 

 semi-tere^^a without ^ lbs or oil-tubes. 



A perennia' herb, 1 to G feet high. Leaves broadly linear, w^'th 

 strai, ht, simplo parade! veins, remotely cill. ^e with soft spines. Flowers 

 sessile, in dorse globose or cylindi'ical heads, appearing in -Tuly or August. 



Habitat. — Dry or damp pine barrens or prairies from New Jersey to 

 Wisconsin and southwf'd. 



