APOCYN ACE.E. 



449 



America ; they abound in a lactescent fluid, which, when dried, has the pro- 

 perties of caoutchouc. 



1. A. andros/emifolium, Linn. — Leaves ovate-acute, above glabrous, beneath v^cy 

 slightly pilose ; cymes lateral and terminal, smooth ; tube of the corolla longer than the. 

 calyx.. - 



Linn., Sp. PI. 311 ; Bigelow, Med, Bot., ii. 148; Rafinesque, Med. Ft., 

 i. 49 ; Zollickoffer, Am. Jour. Med. Sci., xii. 378. 



Common Names. — Dog's-bane ; Bitter-root ; Milk-weed. 



Description. — Root peren- 

 nial, large and bitter. Stem 

 smooth, three to five feet 

 high, lactescent, with a tough 

 fibrous bark. The leaves are 

 opposite, petiolate, ovate; en- 

 tire, perfectly smooth above, 

 and very slightly pilose be- 

 neath. Flowers in cymose 

 racemes, longer than the., 

 leaves, nodding,.few-flowered, 

 with minute bracts on the 

 peduncles. The calyx is 

 small, five-cleft. The corolla 

 is flesh-coloured, campanu- 

 late, and divided into five 

 spreading, acute segments. 

 The stamens are five, with 

 short filaments, and long, 

 sagittate, connivent anthers ; 

 there are five glandular ap- 

 pendages, alternating with 

 the stamens. The ovaries 

 are two, ovate, and suppor- 

 ting two sessile stigmas. 

 The fruit is in the form of 

 a pair of slender, acute, 

 drooping follicles, containing 

 numerous oblong, imbricated 

 seeds, attached to a central 

 torus, and furnished with a 

 long, downy, pappus. ' 



It is found in some plenty in most parts of the United States, growing in 

 dry, sandy soil, on hill-sides or in woods; flowering in June and July. The 

 part that is officinal is the root, which is large^ lactescent, and of a disagree- 

 ably bitter taste; the active portion is the cortical, which forms nearly 

 two-thirds of it. It has never been fully examined, but from some experi- 

 ments by Dr. Bigelow, it appears to contain a Bitter extractive principle, a 

 Colouring matter, soluble in water but not iri alcohol, Caoutchouc, and Vola- 

 tile oil. It yields its properties to water and alcohol. Dr. Zollickoffer ob- 

 tained 178 grains of alcoholic and 28 grainsof watery extract from 3240 

 grains of the cortical part of the root, and inversely 160 of watery and 

 104 of alcoholic. {Am. Jour. Med. Set.) 



Medical Properties. — This root is emetic and diaphoretic. In full doses, 

 it promptly induces emesis, causing scarcely any previous nausea, and hence 

 is well calculated for those cases where it is wished to evacuate the contents 

 of the stomach, without producing tha't relaxation of the muscular system, 

 incident to a' long-continued nausea. As a diaphoretic, it is much inferior to 

 several others of the vegetable emetics, as it requires large doses in combina- 



29 



A. androsaemifolium. 



