AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



37 



Description. — This plant is easily recognized in late summer and fall by its 

 round, smooth, orange-yellow berries about one-half to three-fourths of an inch 

 in diameter which are borne in small drooping clusters. It is an herb 1 to 4 feet 

 high with an erect, branched stem and covered with fine hair. The branches, also 

 the petioles and mid veins of the leaves, are armed with straight yellow prickles. 

 The leaves are 2 to 6 inches long with rather deep triangular lobes. From May 

 to September the plant produces violet or white flowers about 1 to V/i inches broad. 



Part used. — The ripe berries, carefully dried. In limited demand only. 



Figure 67.— Horse nettle (Solanum 

 carolinense) 



Figure 

 HORSEWEED 



-Horseweed. (Erigeron canadensis) 



Erigeron canadensis L. (Fig. 68.) 



Synonym. — Leptilon canadense (L.) Britton. 



Other common names. — Erigeron, mare's-tail, Canada erigeron, butterweed, 

 bitterweed, cow's-tail, colt's-tail, fireweed, bloodstanch, hogweed, prideweed, 

 scabious. 



Habitat and range. — Horseweed is common in fields and waste places and 

 along roadsides throughout almost all of North America. 



Description. — This weed varies greatly in height according to the soil it grows 

 in. The erect stem, sometimes smooth, but usually bristly hairy, is generally 

 branched near the top. The leaves are usually somewhat hairy, the lower ones 

 1 to 4 inches long and toothed; those scattered along the stem are rather narrow 

 and smooth. From June to November the plant produces numerous heads of 

 small, inconspicuous white flowers, followed by an abundance of seed. 



Part used. — The entire herb, collected during the flowering period. Oil of 

 erigeron, obtained from the plant by distillation, is produced commercially in 

 Michigan and Indiana. 7 In limited demand only. 



JACK-IN- THE-PULPIT 



Arisaema triphyllum (L.) Schott. (Fig. 69.) 



Synonym. — Arum triphyllum L. 



Other common names. — Wild turnip, arum, three-leaved arum, Indian-turnip, 

 wakerobin, wild pepper, dragon-turnip, brown dragon, devil's-ear, marsh turnip, 

 swamp turnip, meadow turnip, pepper turnip, starchwort, bog onion, priest's- 

 pintle, lords-and-ladies. 



Habitat and range. — Jack-in-the-pulpit inhabits moist woods from Canada to 

 Florida and westward to Kansas and Minnesota. 



Description. — The jack-in-the-pulpit has one or two smooth leaves consisting 

 of three leaflets from 3 to 6 inches long and from V/ 2 to VA inches wide. The 



Sievers, A. F. Op. cit. (See footnote 4.) 



