78 BERBERLDACE^E. 



with thorny or spiny teeth, resembling those of holly, whence the specific 

 name. 



Habitat. — Western coast of North America, from Oregon southward. 



Parts Used. — The bark of the stem and root, and the berries — not 

 official. 



Constituents. — The most important constituent of barberry is undoubt- 

 edly berberina, which, however, is present in only small proportion — much 

 smaller than in hydrastis. Another principle, oxycanthin, sometimes called 

 berberia, is present, also in small proportion. This is a white alkaloid, 

 soluble in ether, alcohol, and chloroform, nearly insoluble in water, and 

 has a bitter taste. The other constituents of the bark are unimportant. 

 The berries are pleasantly acid, but have no constituents of special value. 



Preparations. — There are no official preparations. The bark yields its 

 virtues to alchol and water, and may be administered in tincture or in- 

 fusion. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Whatever therapeutic effect may be pro- 

 duced by barberry is undoubtedly due to its most active principle, ber- 

 berina. As this is present in but small proportion, the bark cannot be a 

 very active agent. The European species, B. vulgaris, has been used to 

 some extent as a tonic, chiefly in domestic practice. The American species 

 have also been experimented with, but are not much esteemed. The berries 

 are sometimes used to prepare a cooling and refreshing drink in fevers, etc. 



CAULOPHYLLUM.— Blue Cohosh. 



Caulophyllum thalictroides Michaux. — Blue Cohosh. 



Description. — Calyx : sepals 6, ovate-oblong, greenish-yellow, with 3 

 small bracts at their base. Corolla : petals 6, reniform or hooded, thick 

 and gland-like, with short claws, much shorter than the sepals, and oppo- 

 site them. • Stamens 6, hypogynous, opposite the petals, with short, thick 

 filaments ; anthers ovate or oblong, opening upward by two valves hinged 

 at the top. Pistil solitary, gibbous ; style short ; stigma minute and 

 unilateral. The ovary bursts soon after flowering by the development of 

 the seeds, which are thus left naked on their thick stalks, and, having a 

 blue, fleshy integument, they look like drupes. 



An herbaceous perennial, with a nearly horizontal, somewhat branched 

 and knotty rhizome, from which springs a simple smooth and glaucous 

 stem, 1 to 2^- feet in height, bearing at its summit a small raceme or pani- 

 cle of greenish-yellow flowers, and a little below a large, sessile, triternately 

 compound leaf. Leaflets 1 to 2\ inches long, about half as broad, ob- 

 ovate wedge-shaped, 2- to 3-lobed, the lateral ones sessile, the terminal 

 petiolulate. A smaller triternate leaf is sometimes situated at the base of 

 the panicle. 



The flowers appear in April or May, while the leaf is yet small ; the fruit 



