AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



17 



BUGLEWEED 



Lycopus virginicus L. (Fig. 27.) 



Other common names. — Buglewort, sweet bugleweed, American water hoar- 

 hound, carpenter's herb, green archangel, gypsy weed, Paul's betony, woodbetony, 

 wolf foot, purple archangel, water bugle, gypsywort, gypsy herb, Virginia hoar- 

 hound. 



Habitat and range. — Bugleweed is a native herb frequenting wet, shady places 

 from Canada to Florida, Missouri, and Nebraska. 



Description. — This herb has long, threadlike runners and a bluntly 4-angled, 

 smooth, slender, erect stem from 6 inches to 2 feet in height. The leaves are 

 about 2 inches in length, pointed, rather narrow, and dark green or of a purplish tinge. 

 The whitish flowers, which appear from about July to September, are small, tubular, 

 and bell-shaped, and are produced in dense clusteis in the axils of the leaves. 

 They are followed by four nutlets. The plant has a rather pleasant, mintlike 

 odor, but a disagreeable bitter taste. 



Part used. — The entire herb, gath- 



ered during the flowering period, 

 limited demand onlv 



In 



Figure 27.— Bugleweed (Lycopus virginicus) 



Figure 28.— Burdock (Arctium minus) 



BURDOCK 



Arctium minus (Hill) Bernh. (Fig. 28.) 



Synonym. — Lappa major Gaertn. 



Other common names. — Cockle button, cuckold dock, beggar's-buttons, hurr- 

 burr, stick-button, hardock, bardane. 



Habitat and range. — Burdock, one of our most common weeds, was introduced 

 from the Old World. It grows along roadsides and in fields, pastures, and waste 

 places, being very abundant in the Eastern and Central States and in some scat- 

 tered localities in the West. 



Description. — Burdock is a coarse, unsightly weed. During the first year it 

 produces only a rosette of large leaves from a long tapering root. In the second 

 year the plant grows to a large size, measuring from 3 to 7 feet in height. The 

 stem is round, fleshy, and much branched and bears very large leaves, the lower 

 ones frequently measuring 18 inches in length. The flowers are not produced 

 until the second year, appearing from July until frost. They are purple and are 

 borne in small clustered heads armed with hooked spines, and the spiny burs thus 

 formed are a great pest, attaching themselves to clothing and to the wool and 

 hair of animals. The plant has a large fleshy taproot. When dry this root is 

 much wrinkled lengthwise. 



Part used. — The roots, collected from plants of the first year's growth. As 

 they are large and fleshy they are likely to become moldy, and it is best to slice 

 them lengthwise, so that drying may proceed more rapidly. The roots of other 

 species of Arctium are also used. In reasonably constant demand. 



