AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS / 



AMERICAN MOUNTAIN-ASH 



Sorbus americana Marsh. (Fig. 7.) 



Synonym. — Pyrus americana DC. 



Other common names. — Roundwood, round-tree, American rowan tree, 

 American servicetree, mountain sumac, tiogberry, quickbeam, wild ash, winetree, 

 witchwood, life-of-man, Indian mozemize, missey-moosey, moose-misse. 



Habitat and range. — The American mountain-ash occurs in swamps, low 

 woods, or moist ground from Newfoundland south along the mountains to North 

 Carolina and to Michigan. It is most abundant in the northern portion of its 

 range. 



Description. — This smooth-barked tree reaches a height of 30 feet with a trunk 

 18 inches in diameter. The leaves resemble those of the sumac, consisting of from 

 11 to 17 lance-shaped, pointed leaflets about l}i to 4 inches long. When young 

 they are slightly hairy, both sides soon becoming smooth. The white flowers are 

 borne from May to June in dense clusters measuring from 3 to 6 inches across. 

 The flowers are followed later in the season by large, dense, showy clusters of 

 bright-red berries about the size of peas, which give the tree a brilliant appearance. 



Part used. — The bark with the outer layer removed. In limited demand only. 



Figure 7.— American mountain-ash (Sorbus 

 americana) 



Figure 



-American pennyroyal (Hedeoma 

 pulegioides) 



AMERICAN PENNYROYAL 



Hedeoma pulegioides (L.) Pers. (Fig. 8.) 



Other common names. — Pennyroyal, mock pennyroyal, squaw mint, tickweed, 

 stinking balm, mosquito plant. 



Habitat and range. — American pennyroyal is found in dry soil from Nova 

 Scotia and Quebec to the Dakotas and southward. 



Description. — This strongly aromatic herb is of rather insignificant appearance, 

 being a low-growing plant from 6 inches to a foot in height with a slender, erect, 

 much-branched, somewhat hairy and square stem. The leaves are small, thin, 

 and rather narrow. From July to September close flower clusters appear con- 

 sisting of a few pale-bluish flowers. The entire herb has a strong mintlike odor 

 and pungent taste. 



Part used. — The leaves and flowering tops are collected when the plant is in 

 flower. The distillation of oil of pennyroyal is a limited industry carried on in 

 scattered sections in the eastern part of the country. 4 In reasonably constant 

 demand. 



4 Information on the extraction of volatile oils from plants is contained in the following publication: 

 Sievers, A. F. Methods of extracting volatile oils from plant material and the production 

 of such oils in the united states. TJ. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bui. 16, 36 p., illus. 1928. 



