196 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



Foreign Names. - 



Fig. 103. 



Willdenow, Sp. PL iv. 757 ; Torrey & Gray, FL i. 214; Bigelow, Med. 

 Bot., iii. 156 ; Rafinesque, Med. Fl., ii. 113 ; Lindley, Fl. Med., 216. 

 Common Names. — Prickly Ash, Toothache-bush, Yellow-wood, &c. 

 -Frene epineux, Fr. ; Radice Lopeziana, It. 



Description. — A shrub of from five to ten 

 feet in height, with alternate branches, having 

 strong, sharp, scattered prickles. The leaves 

 are alternate, pinnate ; leaflets in four to five 

 pairs, and a single terminal one, nearly sessile, 

 ovate-oblong, with slight glandular serratures, 

 somewhat pubescent beneath ; the common pe- 

 tiole is round, usually prickly, but sometimes 

 unarmed. The flowers are in small sessile um- 

 bels, near the origin of the young shoots; they 

 are small and greenish, with a somewhat aro- 

 matic smell. They are usually dioecious, but 

 sometimes polygamous; where they are per- 

 fect, the calyx is 5-parted, with large erect seg- 

 ments. The stamens vary in number ; in the 

 perfect flowers there are 5, whilst in the male 

 flowers they are from 3 — 5. In the perfect 

 flowers the styles are from 3 — 4, and in the fe- 

 male 5. The capsules are stipitate, elliptical, 

 punctate, of a reddish-green colour, 2-valved, 

 and containing one oval blackish seed. 



The Prickly ash is found in most parts 

 of the United States, growing in woods 

 and thickets. The flowers appear in 

 April and May, before the foliage. Some 

 discrepancy of opinion has existed among 

 botanists with regard to this species. It 

 was first described by Miller, under the 

 name of americanum, in 1781 ; then by 

 Marshall, as fraxinifolium, in 1785, . 

 which name was changed by Willdenow 

 in 1796 to fraxineum, by which specific 

 appellation it has been generally recog- 

 nised. It is also the ramiflorum of 

 Michaux, and the tricarpum of Hooker. 

 There is no doubt that it should bear the name bestowed upon it by Miller, 

 and which is adopted by Torrey and Gray ; but we have deemed it best to 

 retain that by which it is most generally known, and which is recognised in 

 the Pharmacopoeia. It may also be noticed that the Aralia spinosa is very 

 often called by the name of Prickly Ash ; this, although possessing some of 

 the qualities of the Xanthoxylon, is by no means identical with it as a remedial 

 agent. 



The whole plant is endowed with active qualities ; the leaves and fruit 

 abound in a volatile oil, which is extremely fragrant; and the bark is acrid, 

 pungent, and aromatic ; this latter is the officinal portion. As found in the 

 shops it is in quilled fragments, of a grayish-white colour externally, and 

 somewhat shining within. Where it has been derived from the small branches 

 it is beset with prickles. It is light, brittle, has a somewhat starchy fracture, 

 and when dry possesses very little smell. The taste is at first somewhat 

 sweet and aromatic, but soon becomes bitter and very acrid. 



Medical Properties, tyc. — This article is somewhat allied to Mezereum in 



X. fraxineum. 



