31 



table antimony, sweating plant, Indian sage, wild sage, tearal, wild 

 Isaac. (Fig. 19.) 



Range and habitat. — Boneset delights in moist situations, and is com- 

 mon as a weed in clayey or sandy soil, in low, wet ground, and along 

 streams, on the edges of swamps and in thickets from the New Eng- 

 land States west to Nebraska and south to Texas and Florida. 



Description. — One of the features which will aid in recognizing this 

 plant is the peculiar arrangement of the leaves. These are opposite 

 each other and joined together at the base around the stem, and there- 

 fore have the appearance of a single leaf with the stem passing through 

 the center of it. 



Boneset is a perennial herb of the aster family of plants (Asteracea3), 

 with stout, rough, hairy stems 1 to 5 feet high, from a horizontal, 

 crooked root. The leaves are opposite, united at the base, lance 

 shaped, tapering to a point, bluntly toothed, rough with prominent 

 veins, wrinkled, dark green on the upper surface, downy and paler 

 green on the lower surface. Both leaves together measure from 8 to 

 14 inches from point to point and 1 to 1+ inches wide. The flowers 

 an' white, tubular, ten to twenty or more united in dense heads, and 

 the heads are borne in rather crowded flat-topped clusters, appearing 

 from July to September. 



Parts used.— The leaves and flowering tops are the parts used in 

 medicine, and these -hould be collected when the plants are in flower, 

 stripped from the stalk, and carefully dried. They lose about three- 

 fourths of their weight in drying. The odor is faintly aromatic, the 

 taste bitter and astringent. 



As indicated by the common names •"ague-weed" and ' ; feverwort," 

 this ts a popular remedy in fever and ague. It is used also in colds, 

 dyspepsia, jaundice, and for toning up the system. In large doses it 

 is an emetic and cathartic. 



Prices. — Eupatorium or boneset leaves and tops bring from 2 to 8 



cents per pound. 



CATNIP. 



Nepeta cataria L. 



Other common names. — Catmint, catrup, cat's wort, field mint. (Fig. 

 % >. i 



Range and habitat. — This very common weed is naturalized from 

 Europe, and is found in rather dry soil in waste places and cultivated 

 land, about old buildings and along fences, from Canada to Minnesota 

 and southward to Virginia and Arkansas. 



Description. — The erect, square stems of this perennial herb of the 

 mint family (Menthaceae) grow to a height of 2 to 3 feet, are branched, 

 and somewhat whitish in appearance from the covering of fine white 

 hair-. 

 i%* 



