AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



41 



MAD-DOG SKULLCAP 



Scutellaria lateriflora L. (Fig. 75.) 



Other common names. — Blue pimpernel, madweed, hoodwort, mad-dog. 



Habitat and range. — Skullcap grows in wet places from Newfoundland to 

 British Columbia and south to Florida and New Mexico. 



Description. — This plant is smooth or with very fine hair on the upper parts 

 with slender, erect or declining, widely branching stems from one-third to 2}i 

 feet high. The thin, slender-stemmed leaves are somewhat lance-shaped or 

 egg-shaped, 1 to 3 inches long, and coarsely toothed. The blue and whitish, 

 tube-shaped flowers appear from July to September. 



Part used. — The herb. In reasonably constant demand. 



Figure 75.— Mad-dog skullcap (Scutellaria 

 lateriflora) 



Figure 76.— Mayapple (Podophyllum 

 peltatum) 



MAYAPPLE 



Podophyllum peltatum L. (Fig. 76.) 



Other common names. — Mandrake, wild mandrake, American mandrake, 

 wild lemon, ground lemon, hog apple, devil's apple, Indian apple, raccoon berry, 

 duck's-foot, umbrella plant, vegetable calomel. 



Habitat and range. — The mayapple is a native plant found in low woods, 

 usually growing in patches, from western Quebec to Minnesota and south to 

 Florida and Texas. 



Description. — A patch of mayapple is easily distinguished from afar by the 

 smooth, dark-green foliage and the -even stand, which makes it conspicuous in 

 the woodland. It is an erect plant about 1 foot in height with only two leaves, 

 which are circular in outline but with five to seven lobes, the latter being two cleft. 

 The leaves, which are sometimes a foot in diameter, are borne on long leafstalks 

 which are fixed to the center of the leaves, giving them an umbrellalike appear- 

 ance. The waxy white flower, about 2 inches in diameter, is produced in May 

 on a short stout stalk between the two leaves. The fruit which follows is about 

 2 inches in length, lemon shaped, green at first, then yellow. 



Part used. — The rootstock, collected late in September or October. In 

 reasonablv constant demand. 



