A STE RACEME. 389 



as it is impossible to say which of them is to be preferred, one of the most 

 common is therefore selected. 



L. squarrosa, Willdenoic. — Stem simple, pubescent; leaves linear, very long ; raceme 

 few-flowered, leafy ; calyx large, about 20-flowered, scales leafy, lanceolate, mucronate, 

 rigid and spreading ; lobes of the corolla linear, villous internally. 



Willdenow, Sp. PL ill. 1635 ; Torrey and Gray, FL ii. 68 ; Elliott, Sketches, 

 ii. 282 ; Lindley, FL Med. 450. 



Common Names. — Blazing Star , Button Snake-root ; Rattlesnake's 

 Master. 



Description. — Stem 1 — 3 feet high, often nearly glabrous, sometimes almost hirsute; 

 very leafy ; leaves linear, elongated, rigid, the lower ones 3 — 5-nerved, the radical very 

 long. The heads of flowers few, sometimes solitary, sessile or on very short pedicels, 

 many-flowered. The scales or paleae are rigid, ciliate, with more or less elongated and 

 pointed foliaceous extremities. -The flowers are bright purple, with the lobes of the co- 

 rolla hairy within. The achenia are minutely pubescent and the pappus is very plumose, 

 having eighteen to twenty bristles, often of a purplish colour. 



This species grows in dry, barren, or sandy soil, in almost every part of 

 the United States, flowering from July to September. It has a tuberous root, 

 which is the part used, furnished with a great number of long, slender, whitish 

 fibres. This root has an acrid, bitterish, pungent taste, and an aromatic, te- 

 rebinthinate odour, which properties are owing to the presence of a peculiar 

 balsamic substance ; the qualities are partly given out to water, but are wholly 

 so to alcohol. No analysis has been made of it, nor of any of the species, and 

 it is therefore impossible to decide on the exact nature of the active ingredient, 

 nor have they been subjected to a proper trial with regard to their therapeutic 

 powers, though they have attained much celebrity in many parts of the 

 country, and for many purposes, particularly for their alexipharmic powers 

 in bites of venomous snakes. 



Medical Properties. — The best ascertained quality of this and the other 

 tuberous-rooted species, is their diuretic property. This was noticed by 

 Schoepf, who found them in use among the Indians for this purpose, and Dr. 

 B. S. Barton speaks of them under the name of Serratula, as very useful in 

 nephritic complaints, and in venereal diseases ; he quotes the testimony of 

 several practitioners in favour of their virtues in these affections. The belief 

 in their powers in the cure of persons bitten by venomous snakes, is very 

 general ; Pursh states that the L. scariosa and L. squarrosa are known to 

 the inhabitants of Virginia, Kentucky, and Carolina, by the name of " Rattle- 

 snake's master," and goes on to say, " that when bitten by the animal, they 

 bruise the bulbs of the plants, and apply them to the wound, while at the 

 same time they make a decoction of them in milk, which is taken inwardly." 

 (Pursh, ii. 509.) Riddell (Synop. Flor. West. States), in noticing these 

 plants, cites them as stimulant, carminative, and diaphoretic, and used for 

 these purposes by the Thomsonians. 



From what has been said, it is evident that these roots are possessed of 

 active properties, and that they deserve a fair trial, so that their true value 

 may be ascertained, and whether they deserve a place in the Materia Me- 

 dica. 



Eupatorium. — Linn. 



Heads 3- to many-flowered. Involucre cylindrical or campanulate, the scales imbri- 

 cated in 2 — 3 or more series, or sometimes nearly even in a single series. Receptacle 

 flat, naked. Corolla tubular, funnel-shaped, or with a campanulate limb ; 5-toothed, fre- 



