OIL-BEARING PLANTS 



OIL-BEARING PLANTS 



497 



hyde. After a sufficient time has elapsed for the 

 oil to form, distillation occurs. California is the 

 chief American source of this very volatile and 

 poisonous oil. 



Caraway. [See Medicinal, Condimental and Aro- 

 matic Plants, page 460.] 



Long-leaf Pine (Pinus palustris. Mill.). Coniferw. 

 Fig. 723; also Fig. 55, Vol. I. 



American turpentine oil consists of the more 

 volatile constituents of the resinous exudate ob- 

 tained by wounding the trunk of the various 

 species of pine, chiefly the long-leaf pine. The 

 outer living wood is chopped away in 

 such manner as to open a large area of 

 young wood rich in turpentine. During 

 the warm months this pitch exudes and 

 runs down into a pot connected by a 

 spout to the tree or into a "box" cut in 

 the trunk itself, from which it is removed 

 every month or fortnight. The pitch is 

 then distilled, with the result that the 

 more volatile part, the oil of turpentine, 

 is separated from a heavy residue, the 

 resin. This volatile oil is further purified by recti- 

 fication. 



The southeastern states, from North Carolina to 

 Florida, are the chief source of American turpen- 

 tine oil. Wilmington, N. C, is the chief commer- 

 cial center for this and related pine products, such 

 as resin and tar. The turpentine supply is threat- 

 ened in the United States by the destruction of 

 the forests. Synthetic substitutes have not been 

 secured. 



Spearmint (Mentha viridis, Linn., M. spicata, Linn.). 

 LabiatcB. (Fig. 1392, Cyclopedia of American 

 Horticulture.) 



A low perennial herb (one to three feet high) 

 propagated by numerous running rootstocks, with 

 ascending or reclining, somewhat hairy, square- 

 cornered, green stems, bearing slightly hairy, aro- 

 matic, sessile, veiny, oblong leaves, and the dense, 

 narrow, terminal leafless spike of small lavender- 

 colored flowers. 



This European plant has been widely distributed 

 over the eastern part of the United States, where 

 it occurs wild in damp fields and waste places. It 

 has been grown in Europe for centuries on a small 

 scale as a garden plant. It has been cultivated on 

 a commercial scale at Mitcham, England, but chiefiy 

 in the United States in Michigan and in Lyons 

 county, New York, where its culture is practiced 

 with that of peppermint [see Peppermint, page 463]. 

 The methods of cultivation and distillation are 

 similar to those employed in the case of pepper- 

 mint. The yield is about twenty pounds of oil per 

 acre. The total American yearly output seems not 

 to exceed about 12,000 pounds, which amount makes 

 the American product the determining factor in the 

 world's market. An oil grouped with spearmint oil 

 commercially was formerly produced on a small scale 

 in Thuringia, Germany, but it has ceased to be a 

 factor in the market. 



The oil is used as a flavoring agent in confec- 

 tionery and cosmetics and to a less extent in medi- 

 cine. Both the dried herb and the oil are official 

 in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The dried herb meets 

 with a limited demand from crude drug dealers. 



Sweet Birch (Betula lenta, Linn.). Betulacem. 

 Fig. 724. 



A tree of medium size, reaching a height of 

 seventy-five feet, having a close dark brown bark, 



Fig. 724. Sweet bircli (Betula lenta). 



the inner lining of which is sweet and aromatic 

 when chewed. The leaves are cordate, ovate, acu- 

 minate at the apex, with finely serrated margins. 

 The flowers are in long, slender catkins. A native 

 tree of rich forests of eastern North America. 



The bark of the sweet birch (cherry birch or 

 .black birch) yields on maceration and distillation 

 a volatile oil which is frequently known commer- 

 cially as oil of wintergreen and has practically a 

 like composition. The birch bark from young 

 trunks and branches is removed usually in late 

 summer, cut up into small pieces and macerated 

 for twelve hours with enough water thoroughly to 

 moisten the bark, and distilled with steam. The 

 characteristic substance of the oil is methylsalicy- 

 late, formed by the action of th6 ferment gaulthe- 

 rase (betulase) on the glucoside gaultherin. The 

 yield is about .23 per cent. The oil of sweet birch 

 and of wintergreen is used chiefly as a flavoring 

 agent in candies and medicinal preparations. 



Vetiver. Andropogon squarrosus, Linn. (A. murica^ 



tus, Retz. Vetiveria zizanioides, Nash.). Gram- 



inem. Vetivere, Cuscus, Khus-khus, Khuschus, 



Kuskus, Koosa. 



Vetiver is a perennial tufted grass, native in 



rich moist soils in the coast region of India and in 



Bengal, and also on the plains of the Punjab and 



Northwest provinces. It is Town for its roots, the 



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