AMERICAN MEDICINAL FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND SEEDS. 



The flowers are of two kinds, male and female, and are generally produced 

 on separate plants, in April or May, the male flowers being borne in short, oval 

 catkins, while the female flowers are arranged in a short cone, consisting of 

 about five overlapping whorls. The fleshy, berrylike fruit which follows does 

 not ripen until the second year. It is dark purple, covered with a pale-bluish 

 bloom, roundish, and contains three bony seeds embedded in a brownish pulp. 



(Fig. 1.) 



Collection, uses, and prices. — The berries are used medicinally and should be 

 collected when ripe, usually about October. They have an aromatic, somewhat 

 spicy odor, and a pungent, turpentinelike, bitterish sweet taste. An oil, known 

 as oil of juniper, is distilled from them, and is official in the Pharmacopoeia of 

 the United States. The oil content seems to vary according to the sections 

 from which the berries are obtained. Most of the juniper berries of commerce 

 come from the southern portions of Europe. Juniper berries are employed medic- 

 inally for their stimu- 

 lant and diuretic prop- 

 erties. They are used 

 also for flavoring gin. 



The price at present 

 paid for juniper berries 

 is about 2 to 1\ cents a 

 pound. 



SAW PALMETTO. 



Serenoa serrulata 

 (Michx.)Hook.f. 



Pharmacopceialname. — 

 Sabal. 



Synonym. — Sabalserru- 

 latum Roem. and Schult. 



Other common names. — 

 Palmetto, dwarf pal- 

 metto, fan palm. 



Habitat and range. — 

 This palm is found in sandy soil from North Carolina and Arkansas to Florida 

 and Texas. 



Description. — The saw palmetto is a fan-leaved palm, low and tufted, with 

 a creeping, branching stem 4 to 8 feet long. The bright-green leaves are borne 

 on a slender stalk edged with spines and are roundish in outline and fan 

 shaped, the 15 to 30 divisions or segments slightly cleft at the top. (Fig. 2.) 

 The spike (spadix) is thickly hairy, considerably shorter than the leaves, and 

 the flowers are small and whitish. The fruit or drupe is oblong oval, about 

 < ne-ha^f to scarcely 1 inch in length. 1-seeded like an olive, reddish brown or 

 blackish brown, and smooth, but somewhat wrinkled in drying. This plant 

 belongs to the palm family (Phoenicacese). 



Collection, uses, and prices. — The partially dried ripe fruit is the part used 

 in medicine and is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia. The fruit 

 ripens from October to December, but its collection is begun as early as August, 

 before maturity, and extends into January. It is said to improve digestion 



Fig. 2. — Saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata), showing creep- 

 ing stem. 



