PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 21 
BUCK BEAN. 
Menyanthes trifoliata L. 
Other common names.—Bog bean, bog myrtle, bog hop, bog nut, brook bean, bean 
trefoil, marsh trefoil, water trefoil, bitter trefoil, water shamrock, marsh clover, 
moonflower, bitterworm. 
Habitat and range.—The buck bean is a marsh herb occurring in North America as 
far south as Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and California. It is also native in Europe. 
Description.—This per- 
ennial herb arises from a 
long, black, creeping, scaly 
rootstock, the leaves be- 
ing produced from the end 
of the same on erect 
sheathing stems measuring 
about 2 to 10 inches in 
height. The leaves con- 
sist of three oblong-oval or 
broadly oval leaflets 13 to 
3 inches long, somewhat 
fleshy and smooth, blunt 
at the top. with margins 
entire and narrowed _ to- 
ward the base; the upper 
suriace is pale green and 
the lower surface some- 
what glossy, with the thick 
midrib lightin color. The 
flower cluster is produced 
from May to July ona long, 
thick, naked stalk arising 
from the rootstock It 
bears from 10 to 20 flowers, 
each with a funnel-shaped 
tube terminating in five 
segments which are pink- 
ish purple or whitish on 
the outside and whitish 
and thickly bearded with 
white hairs within. (Fig. 
13.) The capsules which follow are ovate, blunt at the top, smooth and light 
brown, and contain numerous smooth and shining seeds. Buck bean is a perennial 
belonging to the buck-bean family (Menyanthacez). 
Collection, prices, and uses.—The leaves are generally collected in spring. They 
lose more than three-fourths of their weight in drying. The price paid per pound is 
about 6 to 8 cents. 
Buck-bean leaves havea very bitter taste, butno odor. Large doses are said to have 
cathartic and sometimes emetic action, but the principal use of buck-bean leaves is 
as a bitter tonic. They have been employed in dyspepsia, fevers, rheumatic and 
skin affections, and also as a remedy against worms. 
The rootstock is also sometimes employed medicinally and was recognized in the 
United States Pharmacopeeia from 1830 to 1840. 
29 
Fic. 13.—Buck bean (Menyanthes trifoliata), flowering plant. 
