AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



33 



The broad-leafed gum plant, Grindelia squarrosa, is similar to G. robusta, 

 except that it is smaller and less gummy in appearance. The leaves are much 

 smaller and thinner and less rigid. 



Part used.- — The leaves and flowering tops of both species, collected when the 

 plants are in full bloom. In reasonably constant demand. 



Figure 59.— Broad-leafed gum plant 

 (Grindelia squarrosa) 



Figure 60.— Hazel alder (Alnus rugosa) 



HAZEL ALDER 



. Alnus rugosa (DuRoi) Spreng. (Fig. 60.) 



Synonym. — Alnus serrulata Willd. 



Other common names. — Tag alder, common alder, red alder, smooth alder, 

 green alder, American alder, speckled alder, swamp-alder, notch-leaved alder. 



Habitat and range. — Hazel alder is found in swamps and along the marshy 

 banks of streams from New England south to Florida and Texas and westward 

 to Ohio and Minnesota. 



Description. — The hazel alder, although it sometimes attains the hieght of a 

 tree, is more frequently a shrub from 5 to 20 feet high with smooth, brownish- 

 gray bark. It has somewhat leathery, oval leaves from 2 to 4}£ inches long. 

 The flowers, which appear early in the spring before the leaves develop, are reddish 

 green. The male flowers are borne in drooping and the female in erect catkins. 

 The conelike fruit usually remains on the shrub throughout the winter. The 

 bark has a strong, rather aromatic odor and a bitter astringent taste. 



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



HEMLOCK 



Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. 



(Fig. 61.) 



Synonym. — Abies canadensis Michx. 



Other common names. — Hemlock spruce, weeping spruce, spruce pine, tanbark 

 tree. 



Habitat and range. The hemlock tree is found in forests from Ontario south 

 to Virginia and Alabama and west to Michigan and Wisconsin. 



