250 MYHICACE^. 



CASTANEA. — Cuestnut. 



Castanea vesca Limu'. — Chestnut. 



D(i.<criptlon. — Staiaiii'ite flowers clustered upon long, pendulous cat- 

 kins ; calyx commonly G-parted ; stamens 8 to 20. PisLlUute flowers few, 

 usually three together in a scaly, prickly involucre, which encloses tiiem, 

 and at maturity opens by J: valves ; calyx witli a (5-lobed border which 

 crowns the 3- to 7-celled, G- to 11-ovuled ovary ; stigmas as many as the 

 cells of the ovary, and surrounded by 5 to 12 rudimentary stamens. Nuts 

 coriaceous, ovoid, flattened, 1 to 3 in number, sweetish, edi' i 



A large tree, 30 to 50 feet in h'.'ght, with a diameter ui 3 to G feet. 

 Leaves G to 7 inches long, 1^ to 2 inches wide, oblong-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, sharply serrate, very regulai'ly feather- veined, when mature, smooth 

 and yellowish-green both sides. It blooms in June ami July and matures 

 its fruit after frost, when the burrs open and the nuts fall. 



Habitat. — In rocky and hilly places, and in alluvial or sandy soil ; 

 widely distributed, and often associated with oak and pine. 



Fart C.ft'd. — The leaves, collected in September or October while still 

 green. Official name — Cistanea. — United States^ riiarmaroiHeia. 



Coi)^iitue)its<. — Nothing save common vegetable i)rincii)les have as yet 

 been detected in chestnut leaves. 



Preparations. — Extractum castancic fluidum — fluid extract of castanea. 

 — United States Pharmacojxvia. 



Jiuiii.ul I roperties and, Uses. — Thore is much doubt regarding the medi- 

 cinal activity of chestnut leaves. Introduced as a remedy for whooping- 

 cough, the drug was considerably lauded for a time, but its slight popu- 

 larity seems already waning. In absence of anytliing to establish the 

 presence of a therapeutically active i)rinciple, or of physiological experi- 

 ments to prove its activity, the mere statement that it exerts a controlling 

 influence upon a disease of such uncertain course as whooping-cough may 

 well be received with caution. 



MYRICACEyE. 



(Jliaracter of the Order. — Monoecious and dia3ciou3 shrubs, with both 

 staminate and pistillate flowers in short scaly catkins. Leaves alternate, 

 resinous-dotted, and often fragrant. 



A small order having few representatives in Nortlf America. In general 

 they possess, to a greater or less degree, aromatic, astringent, and stimu- 

 lant properties. 



M YRICA. ~B AYnRTiUY. 



Myrica cerifera Linnc. — I>a;/f)err!/, Wa.r-Mijrth'. 



Deseriplion. — Flowers mostly dicecious. Staminate catkins oblong, 

 scattered ; pistillate ovoid, from scaly, axillary buds. Btjth kinds destitute 



