144 HAMAMELACEJ3. 



Preparations. — None are official. A fluid extract occurs as a commer- 

 cial article. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Hydrangea is said to exert a specific ac- 

 tion upon the bladder in calculous affections in their earlier stages, effect- 

 ing the removal of the deposits and moderating the pain incident to their 

 passage — all of which may be true, but further evidence is desirable. 



SAXIFRAGES. 



Character of the Sub-Order. — Herbs, with alternate, or rarely opposite, 

 exstipulate leaves. Calyx 4- to 5-toothed. Petals imbricated, or rarely 

 convoluted in the bud, deciduous or withering-persistent. Stamens as 

 many or twice as many as the lobes of the calyx. Ovary more or less ad- 

 herent to the calyx-tube. Fruit dry, capsular, or follicular. 



HEUCHERA. —Alum-Root. 



l+euchera Americana lArmk— Alum-Boot. 



Description. — Calyx bell-shaped, the tube adherent at the base to the 

 ovary, 5-cleft. Corolla : petals 5, spatulate, as long as the lobes of the 

 calyx, purplish or white. Stamens 5. Styles 2, slender. Pod 1-celled, 

 with 2 parietal placentae, many-seeded, 2-beaked, opening between the 

 beaks. 



An herbaceous perennial. Leaves nearly all radical, roundish- cordate, 

 somewhat 7- to 9-lobed ; the lobes short and rounded, dentate-crenate, with 

 short and broad mucronate teeth. Scapes 2 to 3 feet high, glandular, and 

 more or less hirsute with short hairs, rarely with one or two small leaves. 

 Panicle loose, many-flowered, the flowers appearing in May and June. 



Habitat. — In woods and rocky places from Connecticut to Wisconsin 

 and southward. 



Part Used. — The root — not official. 



Constituents. — Alum-root contains from eighteen to twenty per cent, of 

 tannin. 



Preparations. — None are official. — It is generally employed in decoc- 

 tion. 



Medical Properties and Uses. —Alum-root, though formerly official, is 

 seldom employed except as a domestic remedy. It is chiefly used, in 

 decoction, as a topical astringent in sore throat, leucorrhoea, menorrhagia, 

 etc. Other species of heuchera possess similar properties. 



HAMAMELACE/E. 



Character of the Order. — Shrubs or trees, with alternate simple leaves 

 and deciduous stipules. Flowers in heads or spikes, often polygamous or 

 monoecious. Calyx adherent to the base of the ovary. Petals narrow, 



