VALERIAIJ FAMILT. 



165 



Obs. The root of tlie madder abounds in coloring- matter, and is per- 

 haps, the most valuable of all dyeing materials. Combined with proper 

 mordants it produces a great variety of colors and shades, varying from 

 the most delicate pink to the darkest brown, and even black. The great 

 supply is from Holland, though it is cultivated to some extent in this 

 country, especially in Ohio and Tennessee. Several species of Galium, 

 known as " Cleavers," " Goose-grass ' or " Bedstraw," are botanically 

 allied to madder — but they are not sufficiently important even as weeds 

 to require notice. 



2. LoGANiA SuB-OEDER. LeavBS opposite, with stipules between them. 

 Ovary free from the calyx. 

 2. SPIGE'LIA, L. 



[Named for Prof. Spigdius, a Botanist of the seventeenth century.] 



Calyx 5-parted, persistent ; the lobes slender. Corolla tubular-fannel- 

 form, 5-lobed at the summit, valvate in the bud. Stamens 6 ; anthers 

 linear. Style slender, hairy above, jointed near the middle. Pod short, 

 twin, laterally flattened, separating at maturity from the base into two 

 carpels, which open loculicidally, few-seeded. Herbs with the opposite 

 leaves united by means of the stipules, and the flowers spiked in one- 

 sided cymes. 



1. S. Marilan'dica, L. Stem upright, simple ; leaves sessile, ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute ; spike 3 - 8-flowered ; tube of the corolla four times 

 the length of the calyx, the lobes lanceolate ; anthers and style exserted. 

 Maryland Spigelia. Carolina or Indian Pink. Pink-root. Worm- 

 grass. 



Root consisting of a great number of fibres. Stems annual, numerous, somewhat 4- 

 anglcd, purplish, 6-15 inches high. Leaves 2-3 inches long and about half as wide at 

 base, pubescent on the margins and nerves. Corolla an inch and a half long, crimson 

 outside, yellow within. 



Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and southward. June - July. 



Obs. A showy and beautil'ul plant, sometimes cultivated in the flower 

 garden, but is introduced here on account of its commercial value. The 

 root is extensively used as an anthelmintic or worm-destroying medicine, 

 and large quantities are collected for market in the southern and west- 

 ern states. It should be collected in autumn, and carefully dried before 

 packing. An infusion of the root, commonly known as " Worm Tea," 

 is one of the most popular medicines of its class. * 



Order XXXYIII. YALEKIANA'CE^. (Valerian Family.) 



Herbs with opposite leaves without stipules. Calyx-tube coherent with the ovary ; corolla 

 tubular, mostly 5-lobed ; .5fa7n€ns fewer than the corolla lobes (usually 2-3) inserted on 

 the tube ; stigmas 1-3 -/fruit dry, indehiscent, 1-cellcd or with 2 empty cells and the other 

 1-seeded ; seed suspended, without albumen. 



The Valerian of the shops is produced by a species of the genus Valeriana, and the 

 roots of one of our native species are eaten by the Indians of the far west. The only plant 

 of interest to the agriculturist is the one described on the two following pages. 



