AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS \) 



BALM-OF-GILEAD POPLAR 



Populus candicans Ait. (Fig. 11.) 



Other common names. — Balsam poplar, balm buds. 



Habitat and range. — The balm-of-Gilead tree, which has mostly escaped from 

 cultivation, is found along roadsides or streams from Newfoundland to Minne- 

 sota and Georgia. 



Description. — This is a large tree reaching a height of 100 feet with a maximum 

 trunk diameter of about 6^ feet with spreading branches, the young twigs 

 slightly hairy, and with very resinous, fragrant buds. The broad, pointed 

 leaves, 2}o to 6 inches long, are somewhat heart-shaped at the base, fine toothed, 

 dark green above, pale beneath, and hairy when young. The male and female 

 flowers are borne in separate catkins 6 inches or less in length, which appear 

 before the leaves. 



Part used. — The leaf buds. In reasonablv constant demand. 



Figure 11. 



-Balm-of-Gilead poplar (Populus 

 candicans) 



Figure 12. 



-Bamboo greenbrier (Smilax pseudo- 

 china) 



BAMBOO GREENBRIER 



Smilax pseudo-china L. (Fig. 12.) 



Other common names. — Bamboo brier, long-stalked greenbrier, American 

 chinaroot, false chinaroot, bullbrier. 



Habitat and range. — This plant occurs in dry, sandy thickets from New Jersey 

 to Florida and west to Texas and Nebraska. 



Description. — Bamboo greenbrier is a smooth vine with a tuberous rootstock 

 and with the lower part of the stem smooth or sometimes beset with straight, 

 needle-shaped prickles. The leaves, 2}o to 5)4 inches long and 1)4 to 3H inches 

 wide, are egg-shaped or sometimes narrowed at the middle, usually rough on the 

 margin, and somewhat leathery when old. The greenish flowers, 12 to 40 in 

 number, are borne in round clusters on flattened stalks 1 to 3 inches long. These 

 are followed in autumn by one to three seeded black berries up to one-quarter 

 inch in diameter. 



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



