2 BULLETIN 795, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



''marguerite," occurs as a common weed in many parts of the United 

 States, and is also found abundantly in those regions in Europe 

 where the Dalmatian insect flowers (G. cinerarkefolium) grow. Its 

 cheapness and ready availability have favored its use a's an adulterant. 

 The flowers have been the only part of the plant used for this purpose. 

 These flowers, a regular article of commerce with the collectors of 

 crude drugs in certain parts of the southern United States, are gath- 

 ered by people living in the mountainous districts, who dry them, 

 and then deliver them to country storekeepers in exchange for mer- 

 chandise. When the storekeeper has accumulated a sufficient stock 

 of ''medicinal" roots, herbs, barks, flowers, etc., he takes them into 

 town where he sells them to a dealer in these commodities. Occasion- 

 ally a small lot maj'^ be sent directly by parcel post or express to the 

 drug dealer by the original collector, but the usual channel is through 

 the country storekeepers. The daisy flowers, as received by the drug 

 dealers, are remarkably free from other plant material, and the amount 

 of adhering stalk is negligible, an occasional corncob or chicken feather 

 being practically the only extraneous material found with the flowers. 

 A review of the literature shows that this species of Chrysanthemum 

 has long been recognized as an adulterant of insect powder. Beringer 

 (2),^ Schrenk (29), and Unger (36) were the first to report the use 

 of these flowers for this purpose. Others who include daisy flowers 

 in the list of common adulterants of insect powder are Caesar and 

 Loretz (4), Huber (17), Yerneau (38), Tschirch and Oesterle (35), 

 Durrant (11), Hockauf (16), and Hanausek and Winton (15). Siedler 

 (31) states that the flowers of C. Leucanthemuiii have been exported 

 from Dalmatia for several years under the name ''False Insect 

 Flowers." 



USES FOR CHRYSANTHEMUM LEUCANTHEMUM. 



Schoepf (28), La Tourrette (19), Shecut (30), Raflnesque (25), 

 Williams (10), Stearns (32), and Dragendorfl: (9) describe certain me- 

 dicinal uses for Chrysanthemwm Leucanthemum. According to Cut- 

 ler (7) and Shecut (30), the young leaves have been employed in 

 salads. Merat and De Lens (21) of France and Porcher (24) of the 

 United States state that no use is made of the plant in these countries. 

 Stearns (32), however, states tha't the flowers were used in medicine 

 by the natives of Michigan in the early fifties. 



According to the United States Dispensatory (37), German cham- 

 omile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is sometimes adulterated with the 

 flower "heads of the common daisy, and Griffith (14) lists it as an 

 adulterant or substitute for chamomile (Anthemis nohilis L.). Through 

 an investigation of the subject in 1918, the writers learned that ox- 



iThe numbers refer to the bibliography, page 11. 



