WHITE AND GREENISH WILD FLOWERS 
the numerous stamens and pistils, from which they may 
be distinguished by their club-shaped, hollow-pointed 
ends. This low, perennial herb grows from three to 
five inches high. The shining, evergreen, fan-shaped 
leaves are prominently veined, and like the flowers, 
they are borne on long, slender stems rising directly 
from the root. They are compounded of three small, 
wedge-shaped, dark green leaflets having sharply 
notched edges. The roots, from which the common 
name is derived, are slender with numerous long, forked, 
bright yellow, thread-like parts. They are quite bitter 
to the taste, and yield a yellow dye. Country people 
make a tea of them, which is used as an invigorating 
spring tonic. In New England the steepings of the 
dried roots are used as a gargle for canker spots in the 
mauth and throat, and they are also chewed as a remedy 
for these affections. The scientific name Coptis is 
from the Greek, meaning to cut, and alludes to the 
margins of the leaves. 
BLACK SNAKEROOT. BLACK COHOSH 
Cimuctfuga racemosa. Crowfoot Family. 
The attractive, feathery spikes of the Black Snake 
root emit a rank, offensive odour, and country people 
used to say that they were good for driving away bugs 
and flies from their'rooms. For centuries the Indians 
regarded the thick, knotted root of this plant as being 
a certain cure for snake bites, and it was a very popular 
domestic remedy among their squaws. It was also 
used for relieving rheumatism, dropsy and hysteria, 
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