CIIIMAPIIILA P1PSISSEWA. 197 



Labrador tea appears to be less active than the other species, but 

 otherwise not different from it. It is said to have been used during the 

 Revolution as a substitute for tea. 



CHIMAPHIL A. — Pipsisse wa. 



Chimaphila umbellata Nuttall. — Prince's Pine, Pipsissewa. 



Description. — Calyx 5- parted, free from the ovary, persistent. Corolla : 

 petals 5, concave, orbicular, widely-spreading, distinct. Stamens 10 ; fil- 

 aments enlarged and hairy in the middle ; anthers more or less 2-horned 

 at the base, which, by inversion, becomes the apparent apex. Styles very 

 short, inversely conical, nearly immersed in the depressed summit of the 

 globular ovary ; stigma disk-shaped, the border 5-crenate. Pod depressed- , 

 globular, 5-celled, 5-valved, splitting from the apex downward. 



A low, nearly herbaceous, evergreen plant, with long running under- 

 ground stems, and short, ascending, leafy branches, 4 to 10 inches high. 

 Leaves evergreen, thick and shining, cuneate-lanceolate, acute at the base, 

 sharply serrate, whorled or scattered. Flowers white or .purplish, fra- 

 grant, corymbed or umbelled on a terminal peduncle, appearing in June. 



Habitat. — In dry w r oods ; common. 



Chimaphila maculata Pursh. — Spotted Wintergreen. 



Description. — Readily distinguished from the preceding by its leaves 

 alone, which are ovate-lanceolate, obtuse at the base, remotely toothed, and 

 have the upper surface variegated with white. 



Habitat. — Dry woods ; less common than the preceding. 

 Part Used. — The leaves of C. umbellata — United States Pharmacopoeia. 



Constituents. — Chemical analysis, as yet, has thrown little light upon 

 the therapeutic activity of chimaphila. Besides the common constituents 

 of plants there have been found in it a peculiar crystalline substance, 

 termed chimaphilin, which, however, does not appear to be the active prin- 

 ciple ; the latter has not been isolated. 



Preparations. — Extractum chimaphilse fluidum — fluid extract of chi- 

 maphila. — United States Pharmacopoeia. A decoction is also efficient and 

 sometimes preferable. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Chimaphila, in its action, closely resem- 

 bles uva-ursi, and is used for like purposes. Its tonic properties are said 

 to render it especially useful in scrofulous affections. Like uva ursi it is 

 beneficial in chronic affections of the urinary organs. C. maculata is said 

 to resemble it both in constituents and in therapeutic activity. 



AQUIFOLIACE/E. 



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

 leaves, and 4- to 8-merous flowers. Stamens as many as the lobes of the 

 corolla, alternate with them, and inserted upon their base. Ovary free, 



