Jeffersonia. BERBERIDACE^. 35 



Rhizoma thick, horizontal, somewhat fleshy, throwing off numerous branching fibrous 

 roots. Leaves all radical, glaucous beneath, forming a tuft, with several foliaceous oblong 

 sheaths at the base ; lamina parted to the very base, and usually considered as formed of 

 two leaflets : lobes when fully grown 3-4 inches long and nearly 2 inches wide, entire, 

 obscurely toothed or sinuate. Flowers white, about an inch in diameter. Sepals sometimes 

 3 or 5. Stamens shorter than the petals : anthers linear-oblong. Stigma with the margin 

 cristate or undulate. Seeds ovate-oblong ; testa brownish, thick. 



Rich calcareous soils in the western and northern counties : not found in the valley of the 

 Hudson. Fl. April. Fr. July. 



The root is said to be stimulant, diaphoretic and antispasmodic. It is sometimes employed 

 as a remedy in chronic rheumatism. 



4. PODOPHYLLUM. Linn.; Endl. gen. ^801. may-apple. 



[Named from the Greek, pons, a foot, and phyllon, a leaf; the leaf resembling the foot of some birds.] 

 Sepals 3, caducous. Petals 6-9, obovate. Stamens 12 - 18 : anthers linear, bursting by 

 a double longitudinal line. Ovary ovoid : stigma thick, nearly sessile, peltate. Fruit 

 ovoid, fleshy, indehiscent. Seeds numerous, in several rows, on a thick lateral placenta, 

 enclosed in a pulpy arillus. — Rhizoma horizontal, (cathartic.) Stem erect, simple, 2-leaved 

 and one-flowered at the summit. Leaves peltate, lobed. Fruit large, slightly acid, and 

 somewhat edible. 



1. Podophyllum peltatum, Linn. May-apple. Mandrake. Hog-apple. 



Stamens 12- 18; leaves 5 - 7-parted, the segments cuneiform-oblong, somewhat lobed 

 or toothed at the apex. — Michx.fl. I. p. 309; Bot. mag. t. 1819; Bigel. mal. med. 2. t. 23; 

 Nutt.gen. 2. p. 10; Darlingt.Jl. Cest.p. 318; Torr. ^ Gr.fl. N.Am. \.p. 54. 



Rhizoma a little thicker than a goose quill, horizontal, creeping, with thick branching 

 fibres at the joints. Stem 10 - 15 inches high, erect, smooth and naked, with several sheath- 

 ing scales at the base. Leaves on the fertile stems 2, very c.xccntrically peltate, palmately 

 5 - 7-partcd ; barren stems producing but a single leaf, which is peltate in the centre. Flower 

 1 J - 2 inches in diameter ; the peduncle about an inch long, and usually drooping. Petals 

 while, obovate. Stamens one-third the length of the petals. Fruit the size of a pigeon's 

 egg, oval, somewhat gibbous, yellowish when ripe. Seeds ellipsoid, almost entirely enveloped 

 in a pulpy arillus : testa membranaceous : raphe linear : embryo minute, at the base of copious 

 fleshy albumen. 



Moist open woods and meadows, in rich soil ; common. Fl. May. Fr. August. The 

 acid pulpy fruit is eaten by some persons, but it is not very agreeably tasted. The root is a 

 well known cathartic, and has long been used as a cathartic, its properties being similar to 

 those of Jalap. It is, however, rather drastic (Sec Wood <^ Bachc's U. S. Dispcns. p. 518). 



