48 AMERICAN MEDICINAL BARKS. 



becoming a pale rust color when it is no longer fresh. It breaks with a tongh, 

 fibrous fracture, and has no odor, but a bitter and somewhat astringent taste. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The bark is collected from both stem and root. 

 It brings about 7 cents a pound, but at present there seems to be no very great 

 demand for it. 



Buttonbush bark is used in fevers, and the inner bark is employed in coughs 

 and as a diuretic. 



CRAMP-BARK TREE. 



Viburnum opulus L. 



Pharmaeopecial name. — Viburnum opulus. 



Other common names. — Cranberry-tree, high-bush cranberry, wild guelder- 

 rose, gueldres-rose, cherry-wood, dog rowan-tree, whitten-tree, red elder, rose- 

 elder, marsh-elder, water-elder, white elder, gadrise, gaiter-tree, gatten. love- 

 rose, May-rose, pincushion-tree, squawbush, witch-hobble, witch-hopple. 



Habitat and range. — This native shrub occurs in low rich woods and borders 

 of fields from New Jersey, Michigan, and Oregon, northward. 



Description of shrub. — The whitish flower heads of this species are borne on 

 stems about 1 inch in length, and measure from 3 to 4 inches across ; the 

 flowers on the outside are large, sometimes an inch in diameter, and sterile 

 (without stamens or pistils), while those on the inside of the flower cluster 

 are considerably smaller and fertile. The cultivated variety of this species, the 

 well-known ornamental " snowball " of the gardens, has all of its flowers 

 sterile. 



The cramp-bark tree grows from S to 10 feet high, with branches generally 

 erect and smooth, and broadly oval, 3-lobed leaves. The leaves are usually 

 smooth on the upper surface, but with the veins on the lower surface somewhat 

 hairy, and the margins coarsely toothed. The showy white flower clusters 

 appear about June. The red fruits, which ripen rather late in the season and 

 remain on the bush for some time, are roundish or oval, sour, and contain a 

 round, flat stone. As may be inferred from some of the common names applied to 

 this shrub, the fruit in taste and appearance bears some resemblance to the 

 cranberry. The cramp-bark tree is a member of the honeysuckle family 

 (Caprifoliacese). 



Description of bark. — Cramp bark, official in the United States Pharmacopoeia 

 under the name " Viburnum opulus," is in transversely curved pieces, some- 

 times quilled, one-sixteenth of an inch or less in thickness, the outside grayish 

 brown surface marked with lengthwise wrinkles and brown lenticels, and the 

 inside pale brown, showing lengthwise lines. It breaks with a tough, fibrous 

 fracture. There is practically no odor, and the taste is astringent and bitter. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — Cramp bark is collected in the fall, and at 

 present is paid for at the rate of about 2 to 4! cents a pound. 



Cramp bark, as this name indicates, is of use as an antispasmodic, and is 

 also said to possess nervine, tonic, and astringent properties. 



BLACK HAW. 



Viburnum prunifolium L. 



Pharmaeopecial name. — Viburnum prunifolium. 



Other common names. — Sloe, sloe-leaved viburnum, stagbush. 



Habitat and range. — The black haw occurs in dry woods and thickets and on 

 rocky hillsides from Connecticut to Florida, west to Michigan and Texas, but 

 is found in greatest abundance in the South. It is indigenous to this country. 



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