USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



the action being that of a mildly stimulating bitter 

 tonic. The familiar Hoar-hound {Marrubium vul- 

 gar e, L.), originally introduced from Europe for a 

 garden herb in the Atlantic States, has long since 

 taken out naturalization papers as an American, and 

 is now found wild across the continent and from 

 Maine to Texas. It is a somewhat bushy perennial 

 of the Mint family, with square, white-woolly stems, 

 grayish, roundish leaves prominently veined and 

 wrinkled, and small, white flowers densely clustered 

 in the leaf axils. The calyx of the flower is provided 

 with ten short teeth hooked at the tips, which catch 

 readily in the coats of passing animals or people's 

 clothing, facilitating the spread of the plant. The 

 dried herb is tonic and a bitter tea made of it is a 

 time-honored household remedy for debility and 

 colds, being expectorant and promotive of perspira- 

 tion. In large doses it proves laxative. 



Apropos of laxatives, an indigenous wild plant 

 that has been popularly esteemed in this regard and 

 whose value was detected because of the herb 's rela- 

 tionship to the famous Senna of the Old "World, is 

 Cassia Marylandica, L., commonly known as Wild 

 or American Senna. The leaves, collected upon the 

 maturing of the seeds, and dried, used to be among 

 the offerings of the Shaker herbalists. An infusion 



I 186 



