92 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



&c. At a much later period, it is spoken of by eminent writers as highly- 

 valuable in all cases where a powerful antispasmodic is required ; and hence 

 it will be found to constitute an ingredient in all remedies for such cases, in 

 the pharmacopoeias of the last century. Modern experience, however, has 

 shown that, although this root is possessed of some power in a recent state> 

 still that it is far inferior to many other articles of the class, and that when 

 dried, it is almost inert. The roots of some of the species are edible; thus 

 Pallas states, that in Siberia, those of P. albiflora and P. anomala are a 

 favourite food of the natives. 



Tribe 4. — ActjEE^e. — Calyx coloured, imbricated. Fruit succulent, inde- 

 hiscent, or follicular, one or many-seeded. Flowers sometimes unisexual by 

 abortion.- 



Cimicifuga. — Linn. 



Sepals 4 — 5. Petals 3 — 5, concave or unguiculate, sometimes wanting. Stamens 

 many, anthers introrse. Style short; stigma simple. Carpels 1 — 8, follicular, many- 

 seeded. 



Much difference of opinion exists among botanists with regard to the true 

 limits of this genus, some rejecting from it all the monogynous species, whilst 

 others include them, merely making of them a separate section. The genus 

 Botrophis of Rafinesque founded on the single pistil and single dehiscent cap- 

 sule would now be adopted, were it not that the officinal species is still recog- 

 nised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, as Cimicifuga, as well as by our highest 

 botanical authorities, Drs. Torrey and Gray. 



C. racemosa. — Elliot. Racemes very long, leaflets ovate, oblong, incisely toothed. 

 Petals slender, 2-forked. 



Elliot, Sket. ii. 16; Torrey and Gray, Fl. N. A. i. 36; C. serpentaria. 

 Pursh, Flor. ii. 372 ; Actcea racemosa, Linn ; Botrophis serpentaria. 

 Rafinesque, Med. Flor. i. 85. 



Common Names. — Black Snakeroot, Black Cohosh, Squaw-root, &c. 



Description. — Root perennial, blackish, large, with numerous long fibres. Stem simple, 

 smooth, furrowed, from three to six feet high. Leaves few, alternate, one nearly radical, 

 large, decompound, and tri-pinnate ; upper one bipinnate. Leaflets sessile, opposite, three 

 to seven, dentate or incised. Flowers in a long terminal raceme, with oftentimes one 

 or more shorter ones at base ; this raceme is at first bent, but gradually becomes erect. 

 The flowers are white and are supported on short pedicels, with a small subulate bract ; 

 the calyx is white and has four rounded sepals ; the petals are very small, and shorter 

 than the sepals, and cleft at their apex ; the stamens are numerous, with yellow anthers ; 

 the pistil is oval, with a lateral, sessile stigma ; the capsule is ovoid, dry, with one 

 cell, containing many small flat seeds. 



The Black Snakeroot is common in most parts of the United States, in open 

 woods and hill sides, flowering in June and July, when its long white ra- 

 cemes are very conspicuous. The whole plant has a heavy, unpleasant 

 smell when handled, and a disagreeable nauseous taste. There are several 

 varieties, but they are not sufficiently distinct to require notice. This plant 

 was placed in the genus Actcea by Linnaeus, but removed by Pursh to Cimici- 

 fuga, also a Linnsean genus ; in this as before said, he has been followed by 

 many modern botanists, although it does not agree with the characters of the 

 latter better than with those of the former. In 1808, Rafinesque made it the 



