MEDICINAL PLANTS 



MEDICINAL PLANTS 



459 



maining after distillation is used in some parts of 

 Europe as a stock-feed. One investigator in Siam 

 reports that the leaves ■ are grown there and dis- 

 tilled instead of the fruit. 



Belladonna ( Atropa Belladonna, Linn. ) . Solanacecs. 

 (G. F. Klugh.) Figs. 681, 682. 



A coarse, herbaceous plant, with a fleshy, peren- 

 nial root system, a branching, spreading and often 

 straggling stem, reaching a height of three to five 

 feet, bearing ovate, entire, nearly smooth leaves, 

 three to six inches long, and numerous bell-shaped, 

 dull purple flowers that occur either singly or in 

 pairs ; the fruit is a purple, very juicy berry of a 

 sweet and not unpleasant taste. All parts contain 

 atropine or related alkaloids and are poisonous. 

 The leaves and roots are used in medicine. 



Belladonna occurs wild in the United States 

 occasionally, but is native in Europe and occurs 



field and barely covered with soil, germination tak- 

 ing place in March, when conditions are most favor- 

 able for the growth of young seedlings. One to 

 four pounds of seed are needed to sow an acre. 



Fig. 681. Leaves of belladonna (Atropa Belladonna). 



there abundantly both wild and under cultivation. 

 The demand of the American drug market is in 

 part satisfied from England, Germany and Austria, 

 where the plant is cultivated or collected wild. 

 Recently its cultivation in the United States on a 

 commercial scale has been begun. It seems to 

 thrive as far north as New Jersey and does well at 

 Washington, D. C. Vermont seems to be too far 

 north. It is probable that Virginia and the Caro- 

 linas offer a favorable type of climatic conditions. 

 The soil should be a rich garden • loam, moder- 

 ately light and sandy, since a heavy soil gives a 

 poor return in plants, a light yield of leaves and 

 roots, and favors winter-killing of the roots in 

 severe winters. A complete fertilizer is recom- 

 mended, containing phosphates, potash and nitro- 

 gen. The plants may be started in the field or in 

 seed-beds and grown in three-foot rows, about 

 twelve or fifteen inches apart in the rows. The 

 seed may be sown in the fall or early spring in the 



Fig. 682. Root of a two-year-old beUadonna plant, two feet 

 deep. Grown at Washington, D, C. 



Cultivation should be frequent and shallow to keep 

 the soil in good tilth and free from weeds. The 

 leaves are picked when the plants are in full bloom, 

 dried carefully in the shade, and then kept in a 

 dry place. One crop may be gathered the first year, 

 and two or more the second and later years, if the 

 stalks are cut after each picking of leaves. The 

 roots are dug at the end of the second year, washed, 

 cut Into four- or five-inch lengths and dried. 



The yield that may be expected on good soil is 

 about 500 pounds of dried leaves per picking and 

 1,500 pounds of dry root at the end of the second 

 year per acre. 



Camphor (Camphora officinalis, Steud.). Lauracece. 

 Pig. 683. 



A large evergreen tree, native in Asia, having a 

 wide-spreading top, a thick, much-branched stem, 

 alternate, entire, evergreen, leathery leaves, broadly 

 lanceolate to ovate inn form, axillary clusters of 

 small, yellowish flowers which are followed by 

 small, blackish berries, in size and appearance not 

 very unlike the fruit of the native small black 

 cherry (Prunus serotina). The tree is cultivated in 

 Florida, along the Gulf strip and as far north 

 along the Atlantic coast as South Carolina. 



The tree yields the gum camphor of commerce, 

 as well as camphor oil used in liniments and the 

 like. These substances are present in varying 

 quantity in all parts of the tree, being especially 



Fig. 683. Camplior leaves (.Camphora officinalis). 



abundant in the dead heart-wood of old trees. They 

 are also present in the leaves and other parts. Ex- 

 periments by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture have shown that camphor gum of high 



