46 



AMERICAN MEDICINAL BARKS. 



leaves oval or oblong, of a leathery texture, and smooth. The flowers, which 

 from their drooping character give a fringelike appearance, are produced in 

 May aud June, and are borne in dense clusters, each flower having four very 

 narrow white petals about an inch in length. (Fig. 42.) The fruits which 

 follow are fleshy, oval, and bluish black, containing a one-seeded nut. 



Description of bark. — The bark of the root is the part employed in medicine, 

 and it is in quilled or curved pieces of unequal size and shape, rather thick, 

 the outside of a yellowish brown color, somewhat wrinkled, the inside yellow- 

 ish brown or dark brown, marked with lengthwise lines. It breaks with a short, 

 smooth fracture, and has but a faint odor. 



Prices and uses. — At present collectors are paid from about 5 to 8 cents a 

 pound. 



It possesses tonic, febrifuge, and laxative properties, and is also said to have 

 a narcotic action. 



BITTERSWEET. 

 Solan inn dulcamara L. 



Other common names. — Dulcamar; 

 nightshade, amara-dulcis, fevertwig 



nightshade, climbing nightshade, woody 

 violet-bloom, blue bindweed, felonwort, 

 poison-berry, poison-flower, pushion- 

 berry, rnorrel, snakeberry, wolf-grape, 

 scarlet - berry, tether - devil, dwale, 

 skawcoo. 



Habitat and range. — Bittersweet has 

 been naturalized from Europe, and oc- 

 curs in low, damp grounds and moist 

 banks of rivers from New Brunswick 

 to Minnesota, south to New Jersey 

 and Kansas. 



Description of plant. — This climb- 

 ing, shrubby perennial is often planted 

 as an ornamental, and with its clusters 

 of pretty purplish flowers and branches 

 of berries ranging in color from green 

 to yellow and orange, and finally red, 

 occurring on the vine together, it 

 makes a rather attractive showing. 

 Bittersweet has a climbing, somewhat 

 woody, branched stem, about 2 to 8 

 feet long, and oval leaves 2 to 4 inches 

 long, pointed at the apex, and some- 

 what heart shaped at the base. Some 

 of the leaves have one lobe at the base, 

 some three lobes, while others are entire. The purplish flowers, resembling 

 those of the potato (to which family, Solanacere, this plant belongs), are pro- 

 duced from about May to September, borne in compound lateral clusters. The 

 fruits, or berries, which ripen in autumn, are oval, red, and juicy, and contain 

 numerous whitish seeds. (Fig. 43.) The berries look very tempting, but they 

 are poisonous, and children have been known to be poisoned by eating them. 



Description of medicinal part. — The young branches of bittersweet are the 

 parts employed in medicine, and were official in the United States Pharma- 

 139 



Fig. 43. 



—Bittersweet (Solatium dulcamara), 

 leaves, flowers, and fruits. 



