188 



LOBELIACEvE. 



T AK AX ACUM. —Dandelion. 



Taraxacum Dens-leonis Desfontaines. — Dandelion, 

 Description. — Heads many-flowered ; flowers all ligulate, perfect. In- 

 volucre double ; the outer of small short scales, reflexed ; the inner of 



longer erect scales. Receptacle naked. 



ilfl 1 1 : : ' : ' | 



Achenia terete, oblong, ribbed, 

 the apex prolonged into a slen- 

 der beak. Pappus copious, of 

 long, white, capillary bristles. 

 A biennial or perennial 

 herb, with a long, deep root. 

 Leaves all radical, oblong or 

 lanceolate, nearly entire, or 

 sinuate-toothed or runcinate. 

 Scapes slender, hollow, bearing 

 a single head of yellow flow- 

 ers. It blooms throughout the 

 spring and summer. 



Habitat. — Common every- 

 where. 



Part Used. — The root — 

 United States Pharmacopoeia. 



Constituents. — A bitter prin- 

 ciple termed taraxacin, inulin, 

 resin, saccharine matter, and 

 common vegetable constitu- 

 ents. 



Preparations. — Extractum 

 taraxaci — extract of taraxa- 

 cum ; extractum taraxaci flu- 

 idum — fluid extract of taraxacum. — United States Pharmacopoeia. The ex- 

 pressed juice and decoction are also employed. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Taraxacum is slightly tonic, diuretic, and 

 aperient. It is supposed to act especially upon the liver, and is used chiefly 

 in dyspepsia associated with torpor of this organ. 



Fig. 139.— Taraxacum Dens-leonis. 



LOBELIACE/E. 



Character of the Order. — Herbs, with milky juice, and alternate, exstip- 

 ulate leaves. Calyx adherent to the ovary, commonly 5 lobecl. Corolla 

 irregularly 5-lobed, often deeply cleft. Stamens 5, free from the corolla, 

 and united into a tube, commonly by their filaments, but always by their 

 anthers. Style 1 ; stigma often fringed. Fruit capsular, 1- or more-celled, 

 opening at the top ; seeds numerous. 



