BAPTISIA FALSE INDIGO. 183 



bark is said to be tonic, emetic, and cathartic ; the leaves emetic ; and the 

 flowers mildly narcotic. Poisonous effects have been produced in children 

 from eating* the root, the symptoms resembling those of belladonna. The 

 flowers, to the author's own knowledge, are often eaten with impunity. 



TEPHROSIA.— Hoary Pea. 



Tephrosia Virginiana Persoon. — Goat's Rue, Turkey Pea, Catgut. 



Description. — Calyx, about equally 5-cleft. Corolla : standard large, 

 rounded, reflexed ; keel petals broad. Stamens monadelphous or diadel- 

 phous. Pods about 2 inches long, flat, several-seeded. An herbaceous peren- 

 nial. Stems numerous, erect, simple, leafy at the top, silky pubescent. 

 Leaves unequally pinnate ; leaflets 17 to 29, linear-oblong, mucronate. 

 Flowers large and numerous, in dense oblong racemes, yellowish-white 

 marked with purple, appearing in June or July. 



Habitat. — Dry, sandy soil, Canada to Florida and westward. 



Part Used. — The root — not official. 



Constit uents. — Unknown. 



Preparations. — Used only in decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The root of this plant is said to have 

 been used by the Indians as a vermifuge before the settlement of the 

 country by the whites, and it is now used in some parts of the United 

 States for the same purpose. Its action is said to resemble that of spigelia 

 and to be quite as efficient. 



BAPTISIA.— False Indigo. 



Baptisia tinctoria Kobert Brown. — Wild Indigo. 



Description. — Calyx 4- to 5-toothed. Corolla : standard not longer than 

 the wings, reflexed ; wings and keel petals straight. Stamens distinct. 

 Pods oval-globose, on a stalk longer than the calyx, several- seeded. An 

 herbaceous perennial. Stems smooth and slender, freely branched, 2 to 3 

 feet high. Leaves palmately trifoliate ; leaflets rounded, obovate-wedge- 

 shaped, three-quarters of an inch long. Flowers yellow, in short terminal 

 racemes, appearing from June to August, 



Habitat. — Dry, sandy soil, Canada to Florida and westward. 



Part Used. — The root— not official. 



Constituents. — The most recent analysis of this plant demonstrates the 

 presence of a peculiar alkaloid, as yet unnamed. The so-called baptisin of 

 the eclectics is an impure resinous substance obtained from the alcoholic 

 tincture by precipitation with water. 



Preparations. — None are official. A tincture and a fluid extract occur 

 as commercial preparations, and are said to be efficient. The author has 

 employed a tincture made from the fresh bark of the root. 



