COMPTONIA SWEET-FERN. 251 



of calyx and corolla, the solitary flowers being placed each under a scaly 

 bract, with a pair of bractlets. Stamens 2 to 8. Ovary with 2 to 4 scales 

 at its base ; stigmas 2. Fruit an ovoid nut or drupe, covered with whitish 

 wax. 



A shrub, 3 to 8 feet high. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, narrowed at the 

 base, entire or somewhat toothed toward the apex, shining and resinous- 

 dotted both sides, fragrant, appearing late in April before the flowers. 

 Nuts scattered or clustered along the last year's branches, sometimes per- 

 sisting for two or three years. 



Habitat. — In sandy or rocky places on or along the coast. 



Parts Used. — The bark and wax — not official. # 



Constituents. — Besides common vegetable principles, there are in bay- 

 berry bark an acrid resin, an astringent resin, and a peculiar acrid acid, 

 termed myricinic acid. Myrtle wax in mass, after separation from the 

 fruit, is greenish-gray in color, with a consistence intermediate between 

 that of beeswax and tallow. It burns with a white flame and a fragrant 

 odor. 



Preparations. — There are no official preparations. The bark has been 

 used chiefly in powder and in decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Bayberry bark is an acrid stimulant 

 and astringent. In moderate doses it produces a sensation of heat in the 

 stomach ; in large doses, nausea and vomiting. The powder is very irri- 

 tating to the nasal mucous membranes, and produces violent sneezing. It 

 has been employed to some extent in a great variety of diseased conditions, 

 but without acquiring reputation in any. Bigelow stated, sixty years ago, 

 as the result of his investigations, that it is " more interesting in a chemi- 

 cal than a medical point of view ; " and his statement, in the present state 

 of our knowledge, scarcely requires comment or revision. 



COMPTONIA. —Sweet-Fern. 



Comptonia asplenifolia Aiton.— Sweet-Fern. 



Description. — Flowers monoecious and dioecious. Staminate flowers in 

 cylindrical catkins with imbricated, concave, reniform, acuminate, 1-flowered 

 scales ; stamens 3 to 6. Pistillate flowers in egg-shaped, burr-like catkins ; 

 ovary surrounded by 8 long, linear, awl-shaped scales, which are persistent 

 around the ovoid-oblong, smooth, 1-seeded nut. 



A low shrub, 1 to 3 feet high, slender, branched, somewhat hairy. 

 Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, 3 to 4 inches long by half an inch broad, 

 deeply pinnatifid with many rounded lobes, resembling those of a fern. 

 This resemblance, together with the fragrance of the leaves, has given the 

 plant the popular name of sweet-fern. 



Habitat. — In dry sterile or sandy soil from Virginia to Wisconsin and 

 northward. 



