asterace^e. 393 



be successful, it must be employed in a fresh state, but even when dried, it 

 is also considered as a powerful febrifuge, anthelmintic, &c. ; and some years 

 since was spoken of in the most unequivocal manner as a certain cure in yel- 

 low fever, cholera, and even in hydrophobia, and cases were cited of its won- 

 derful powers in these diseases ; but as might have been expected, a trial of it 

 at once disproved the truth of these extravagant assertions, and proved that 

 it was possessed of much the same properties as the Eupatorium. At the 

 same time, there can be no doubt that it has proved highly beneficial in nu- 

 merous cases of severe disease, and it well deserves a further trial, that its 

 exact influence on the system may be ascertained. Dr. Hancoek denies any 

 virtues to it, and is of opinion that the real Guaco is some species of Aristo- 

 lochia. 



Two other species are also reputed very efficacious in Brazil. M. offici- 

 nalis, called by the natives Coracoa de Jesu, is bitter and aromatic, and is 

 said to be particularly beneficial as a febrifuge, and in weak digestion. (Cher- 

 noviz, Form. 156.) M. opifera, or Erva da Cobra, is used internally and 

 externally as an alexipharmic, when it is said to prove remedial from its 

 powerful diuretic action. 



Tussilago. — Linn. 



Head many-flowered, heterogamous ; florets of the ray in many rows, pistillate, nar- 

 rowly ligulate ; of the disk few, staminate, with a campanulate, 5-toothed limb. Recep- 

 tacle naked. Anthers scarcely caudate. Scales of involucre oblong-, obtuse, in about one 

 row. Styles of the disk included, sterile, of the rays bifid, with terete branches. Achenia 

 of the ray, oblong, cylindrical, smooth ; of the disk abortive. Pappus of the ray-florets in 

 several rows, of the disk in one series, capillary. 



This genus, as now constituted, contains but a single species ; the others 

 formerly considered as appertaining to it, being either varieties, or belonging 

 to other genera. 



T. farfara, Linn. — The only species. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 1214; Torrey and Gray, Fl. if. 93; Woodville, i. 45; 

 Stephenson and Churchill, i. 20 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 453. 

 Common Name. — Colts-foot ; Horse-hoof, &c. 

 Foreign Names. — Pas d'ane, Fr. ; Farfara, It. ; Fluflattish, Ger. 



Description. — Root perennial, long. Leaves radical, cordate, on furrowed petioles, 

 somewhat lobed and toothed, smooth above, white and tomentose beneath ; when young, 

 the leaves are revolute, and covered with a cottony down. The scapes, which are several, 

 appear before the leaves ; they are erect, slender, round, and beset with numerous lanceo- 

 late scales. Their colour varies from pale-green to reddish-brown ; they are one-flowered. 

 Flower bright yellow, with the scales of the involucre linear-lanceolate, equal to the disk, 

 at first erect, but finally reflexed. The inflorescence is compound, the florets of the ray 

 being ligulate, numerous, and fertile, whilst those of the disk are few, tubular, and barren. 

 The achenia are smooth, oblong, and compressed. The pappus is pilose, sessile, silvery, 

 and permanent. 



The Coltsfoot is very common in Europe, and has become naturalized in 

 some parts of this country, more especially in the Northern States. It grows 

 in wet places and low meadows, flowering early in the season. The generic 

 name is derived from tussis and ago, in allusion to its pectoral powers ; and 

 the specific one, from the resemblance of its leaves to a kind of poplar, called 

 by the ancients Farfarus. It was well known to the earlier writers on the 

 Materia Medica, as it is spoken of by Hippocrates as a remedy in ulcerations 

 of the lungs, and by Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen as an excellent remedy, 



