TREES AND SHRUBS FURNISHING MEDICINAL BARKS. 



29 



used medicinally. In the stores it is found in long, quilled pieces, or in bands, 

 tough and flexible, the outside a dark reddish brown or dark brownish gray, 

 rather smooth or slightly scaly: inside pale brown, with long coarse gn 

 It breaks with a tough, fibrous fracture, and has no odor, but an astringent, 

 somewhat bitter taste. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The bark of the root is the part collected, and is 

 stripped by making an incision lengthwise on one side of the root, after which 

 it separates easily from the root, forming long quills. 



At present the amount paid for the collection of blackberry bark ranges from 

 2 to 4 cents. 



The blackberry barks possess tonic and astringent properties and form a 

 popular remedy in the treatment of diarrheal complaints. 



AMERICAN MOUNTAIN-ASH. 



Sorbus americana Marsh. 



synonym. — Pyrus americana DC. 



Other common names. — Roundwood, round-tree, American rowan-tree. Amer- 

 ican service-tree, mountain-sumac, dogberry, quick-beam, wild ash. wine-tree. 

 witchwood, life-of-man. Indian mozemize, missey-inoosey, moose-misse. 



Habitat and range. — The American mountain-ash occurs in swamps, low 

 woods, or moist ground from Newfoundland South along the mountains to 

 North Carolina, and to Michigan. It is most 

 abundant in the northern portion of its 

 range. 



Io scription of tree. — This is a rather 

 small, smooth-barked tree, very brilliant in 

 fall and early winter with its clusters of 

 bright red berries. Its greatest height is 

 about 30 feet, with the trunk measuring 

 about 18 inches in diameter, and covered 

 with a smooth, dull brown or grayish bark. 

 The leaves, resembling those of the sumac, 

 consist of from 11 to 17 lance-shaped, long- 

 pointed leaflets about 1+ to 4 inches long 

 (fig. 23). When young they are somewhat 

 hairy, both sides becoming -smooth later, 

 bright green on the upper surface, but 

 usually lighter colored on the lower, the 

 margins sharply toothed with short, stiff 

 teeth. The white flowers are borne in dense 

 clusters measuring 3 to inches across. 

 and have an urn-shaped calyx. 5 rounded 

 petals, and numerous stamens. The Ameri- 

 can mountain-ash. which belongs to the 

 apple family (Malacca?), flowers about May 

 or June, and is followed later in the season 

 by large, dense, showy clusters of round, bright red berries, about the size of 

 peas i fig. 23 i . It is indigenous to this country. 



Description of hark. — As found in the stores, American mountain-ash bark 



consists of coarse pieces of varying length, about a quarter of an inch in thick- 



with the outer layer removed: the outside is yellowish or pale brown, 



smoothish or sometimes with faint, lengthwise wrinkles, the inside smooth 



and brown. It is odorless, but the taste is bitter and astringent. 



139 



Fig. 23. — American mountain-ash i Noc- 

 bua americana), leave? and fruits. 



