TREES AND SHRUBS FURNISHING MEDICINAL BARKS. 



35 



WAHOO. 



Euonymus atropurpureus Jacq. 



Pharmacoprrial name. — Euonymus. 



Other common names. — Burning-bush, spindle-tree. Indian arrowwood, burst- 

 ing-heart, .strawberry-tree, strawberry-bush. American spindle-tree, bitter ash, 

 pegwood. 



Habitat and range. — Wahoo is found in woods and thickets from Ontario and 

 the eastern United States west to Montana. 



Description of shrub. — This native shrub or small tree is from 6 to 2"» feet 

 in height, more often reaching only 10 feet, with an ashy gray bark, twigs 

 somewhat 4 angled, and leaves from U^ to 5 inches in length and about half 

 as wide, oval-oblong or elliptical, and long pointed at the apex (fig. 30). 

 They are rather thin in texture, with 

 a prominent midrib, more hairy on 

 the lower surface than above, and the 

 margins round toothed. The 4-petaled 

 purple flowers are produced in June, 

 in loose, slender-stemmed clusters of 

 from 5 to 15 flowers each, and have 4 

 wavy, obovate petals. The pale pur- 

 ple fruits are rather odd looking, con- 

 sisting of 4 deeply cleft, flattened 

 3, smooth, each cell containing 1 

 or 2 seeds (fig. 30). These capsules 

 open after they ripen, about October, 

 and disclose the seed surrounded by a 

 red aril (false coat enveloping the 

 seed), the bush at this time present- 

 ing a very bright and showy appear- 

 ance. 



The name " wahoo " is applied in- 

 discriminately to Enonymus atropur- 

 pureus and E. ameficanus — the latter 

 a low or trailing bush having crimson 

 capsules, to which the appellation 

 '•burning-bush*' more properly belongs. 

 Both species, which are members of 

 the staff-tree family (Celastraceae), 



are used in medicine, although E. atropurpureus alone is recognized in the 

 United States rharrnacopceia. 



Description of bark. — The dried bark of the root of wahoo is official in the 

 United States Pharmacopoeia. It is in quilled pieces of irregular size. The 

 outside of the bark is furrowed and ridged, of an ashy or light brownish gray 

 color, showing a few dark patches of soft cork. The inner surface is smooth 

 and whitish or somewhat pale brownish. The fracture is short, whitish, and 

 shows fine silky fibers. There is a distinct odor, and the taste is sweetish, bitter, 

 and somewhat acrid. 



Collection, prices, ami uses. — Although the bark from the stem is also some- 

 times gathered, it is the root bark only which is recognized as official. 



The root bark at present brings from 9 to 20 cents a pound. It has tonic, 

 diuretic, laxative, and antiperiodic properties: it acts on the liver, increasing 

 the flow of bile, and is also employed in intermittent fevers and in dyspepsia. 

 139 



Fig. 3U. 



-Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus 



leaves and fruits. 



