254 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 4SS. 



Golden Seal, Hydrastis Canadensis. Not only has the 

 home demand greatly increased in recent years, but large 

 quantities are exported, as the efforts to cultivate it abroad 

 have not been successful. It grows in the rich moist soil 

 of the woods of our north and north-western states, and the 

 extract has a phenomenally wide range of uses. A century 

 ago it was generally used by the Indians for making a 

 yellow dye. Mandrake-root, the laxative remedy of many 

 households, known under its botanical name of Podophyl- 

 lum, the May-apple of our woodlands, is another arti- 

 cle of export. Of course, this must not be confounded 

 with the Mandrake of the Mediterranean region, which 

 belongs to the Nightshade family, and whose fleshy, forked, 

 narcotic roots are often supposed to resemble a man in 

 form. 



Pokeroot, as it is called in commerce, Phytolacca de- 

 candra, is credited with a variety of helpful and wholesome 

 qualities ; the berries are said to be useful to reduce obesity, 

 while the roots are hopefully used for rheumatism and as a 

 poultice to induce suppuration. The green roots are five 

 or six inches in length, an inch in diameter, and divided 

 into several branches; when dried they are a light yellow- 

 ish brown in color and much wrinkled. They are odorless, 

 with a somewhat sweet taste followed by a sense of acridity, 

 and are said to be emetic, purgative and somewhat 

 narcotic. 



Among imported roots are Aconite, native to the moun- 

 tain forests of France, Switzerland and Germany, and 

 cultivated in the latter country and in Great Britain. It 

 has been introduced into America as an ornamental flow- 

 ering plant, and the roots cultivated in the United States 

 are found to be richer in the active alkaline principle than 

 those imported. The ancients understood its poisonous 

 principles, but it was not until less than one hundred and 

 fifty years ago that it was used in medicine, and consid- 

 ered beneficial for the circulation and the nervous system. 

 Another poisonous European root is Belladonna, the Deadly 

 Nightshade, which grows wild and is cultivated in Great 

 Britain and Germany. The corms of Colchicum, Meadow 

 Saffron, from France and southern Europe, are used as a 

 principal ingredient in all the famous old English gout reme- 

 dies. Of Gentian-root, which comes from France whole and 

 powdered, about three thousand tons are used here annually 

 as the basis of tonic medicines. It has the recommenda- 

 tion of cheapness, costing from six to seven cents a pound 

 wholesale. Most largely used of all, and imported in hun- 

 dred-ton lots from Asia Minor, Southern Russia, Greece and 

 other south European countries, is Licorice, the slender sweet 

 root of the leguminous plants Glycyrrhiza glabra and G. 

 echinata. Besides the dried roots, much of the extract is 

 imported in rolls packed in Laurel-leaves, that from Italy 

 being of the highest quality, and similar rolls are manu- 

 factured in this country. In pharmacy it is used as a 

 demulcent in cough mixtures, to modify the taste of un- 

 pleasant medicines and to give consistence to pills and 

 troches. Large quantities are sold for flavoring confec- 

 tionery, tobacco and beer, and since the time of Elizabeth 

 it has been cultivated in England to supply the demand 

 of porter brewers. The Orris-root of trade is* the rhizome 

 of certain species of Iris. That known as Florentine, from 

 Italy, is the highest grade, north Africa furnishing a some- 

 what lower quality, while a cheaper kind comes from the 

 East Indies. It was once esteemed as a stimulant, but 

 now is used only in perfumery and to scent powders and 

 oils. Its fragrance, which suggests violets, is acquired in 

 drying. Squill, from which the popular croup syrup is 

 manufactured, and known also as Sea Onion, is the large 

 bulbous root of Urginea (Scilla) maritima, which some- 

 times weighs fifteen pounds. The root contains 22 

 per cent, of sugar, and is used in the manufacture 

 of whisky in Sicily. The supply is drawn from the 

 countries and islands of the Mediterranean. Ipecac, 

 the root of Cephselis Ipecacuanha, reaches us from 

 Brazil, by way of London, since the output is controlled 

 by English capitalists, who keep the price to our importing 



merchants at an average of $1.50 a pound. Kava Kava, 

 the large spongy root of Piper methysticum, comes from 

 the Sandwich Islands. Used immoderately it has a pecu- 

 liar intoxicating effect with great loss of muscular power, 

 but is valued in medicine as a stimulant. The rhizomes 

 and roots of Lily-of-the-valley were once popular in Russia 

 as a remedy for dropsy. The root-stock of this plant is 

 imported in pieces two or three inches long, covered with 

 fine rootlets, and has a bitter taste. Ii has purgative quali- 

 ties and is said to be sternutatory. Elecampane, intro- 

 duced from Europe and familiar in our gardens and 

 naturalized in the meadows and along the roadsides of the 

 New England and middle states, is cultivated in Europe 

 for its roots, which yield a tonic and stimulating extract, 

 here used chiefly in chronic lung troubles and for some 

 skin diseases. Its pungent taste is also familiar in tonics, 

 and it is a favorite veterinary medicine. 



Coltsfoot, the root of the perennial herb Tussilago Far- 

 fara, and of Comfrey, Symphytum officinale, are both in 

 demand for cough mixtures, though the latter is gradually 

 going into disuse. Colombo, the root of the Mozambique 

 plant Jateorhiza Columba, is used as a tonic and antiseptic. 

 Other staples are Bitter-root, Lewisia rediviva, the fleshy 

 farinaceous roots of which are used by the Indians of the 

 north-west for food ; Berberis Aquifolium, or Oregon Grape- 

 root, which comes in foot-long pieces and yields a bright 

 lemon-colored bitter powder used for chronic skin diseases ; 

 Alkanet, Alchusa tinctoria, from the Grecian archipelago 

 and southern Europe, valued for the deep red dye, and said 

 to be used in the manufacture of spurious port wine; 

 Arrowroot, from the West Indies and the Bermudas ; 

 Marshmallow, Althea officinalis ; Lovage, Levisticum offi- 

 cinale, for flavoring in cookery and in barrooms; Black 

 Cohosh, the root of the American herb Caulophyllum tha- 

 lictroides ; the porous Gentian-root, a remedy of the ancient 

 Greeks and Arabians ; the pungent, aromatic rhizomes of 

 Galangal, from the East Indies and China, and used in 

 bitters ; Sarsaparilla, the roots of several tropical species of 

 Smilax, and which has undergone great changes in reputa- 

 tion ; Ginger, Zingiber officinale, from the East and the 

 West Indies, and a staple in cookery and medicine ; and 

 Curcuma, or Tumeric, the root of Curcuma longa. This 

 East Indian plant is used in medicines, condiments, chemi- 

 cal tests and as a dye, producing a yellow color, which by 

 itself is fugitive, but it is largely used in conjunction with 

 other dyes to produce special tints. It is also a harmless 

 adulterant in drugs and spices. 



No wide fluctuations in prices or supplies have occurred 

 in recent years, since any scarcity in one locality, or attempt 

 to make an artificial demand, is met by abundant supplies 

 from other sections. The packages are generally bales of 

 from fifty to one hundred and fifty pounds. 



New York. A'- -«• C-. 



Plant Notes. 



New Plants in Santa Barbara. 



AMONG woody plants of recent introduction that have 

 J~\ been blooming here, probably for the first time in 

 the United States, not a few deserve special notice, as they 

 are sure to become permanent denizens of our southern 

 gardens, and some of them are suitable, also, for pot culture 

 under glass in the north. Their wide range of usefulness 

 will hardly surprise persons who are even slightly ac- 

 quainted with the climate of southern California, when the 

 botanical genera to which they belong and the countries 

 from which they come are considered. Leguminous plants 

 take the lead in number, of course. Without mentioning 

 many Acacias from Australia — some of them quite remark- 

 able — which, perhaps, have already bloomed elsewhere, we 

 have from the same continent Goodia pubescens, a low, 

 dense, flat-topped shrub, with light green trifoliate leaves, 

 which for months has been literally covered with good- 

 sized pea-shaped yellow flowers. Oxylobium callistachys 

 s another yellow-flowered shrub, with larger flowers in 



