AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



59 



UPLAND COTTON 



Gossypium hirsutum L. (Fig. 111.) 



Species. — American upland cotton is the type most commonly cultivated in 

 the South, from Virginia to Oklahoma and Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and 

 California; and this, with its hundred or more recognized horticultural varieties, 

 belongs to one species, namely, Gossypium hirsutum L., and not to G. herbaceum, 

 as was at one time supposed. 



Description. — The cotton plant is found only in the South and Southwest, 

 where it is so well known that a description of the plant is unnecessary. 



Part used. — The bark of the root. The roots are taken up late in the fall, 

 but before frost, are washed, and the bark is removed with knives and dried. 

 In reasonably constant demand. 



Figure 111. — Upland cotton (Gossypium 

 hirsutum) 



Figure 112. — Virginia strawberry (Fragaria 

 virginiana) 



VIRGINIA STRAWBERRY 



Fragaria virginiana Duchesne. (Fig. 112.) 



Other common names. — Scarlet strawberry. 



Habitat and range. — This wild form of strawberry is found in dry soils from 

 Newfoundland to South Dakota, Florida, and Oklahoma. 



Description. — The Virginia strawberry is a small, rather stout, dark-green, 

 hairy herb growing from a thick rootstock which sends out long, stout runners. 

 The leaves, consisting of three thick, broadly oval, toothed leaflets, grow directly 

 from the rootstock, the leaf stems being erect and from 2 to 6 inches long. The 

 flowers and fruit bear much resemblance to the cultivated strawberry, but the 

 fruit is much smaller. 



Part used. — The leaves. In limited demand only. 



WAHOO 



Euonymus atropurpureus Jacq. (Fig. 113.) 



Other common names. — Burningbush, spindle tree, Indian arrowwood, 

 bursting-heart, strawberry-tree, strawberry bush, American spindle tree, bitter 

 ash, pegwood. 



Habitat and range. — Wahoo is found in woods and thickets from Ontario and 

 the eastern United States to Montana. 



Description. — This shrub or small tree, which is from 6 to 25 feet in height, 

 more often reaching only 10 feet, has an ashy gray bark and rather thin, pointed 



