52 BULLETIN 1201, l\ S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Europe and is no1 at the present time a commercial product in this 
country. The white and the green are the two commercial varieties, 
(lie white being largely imported, and the green the Ameriean plant. 
For insecticidal work these two varieties are considered equally 
valuable. The American hellehore (Veratrum viride), called 
i swamp hellehore." 'Indian poke,' and 'itch-weed.' is a common 
plant in wet ground and grows over a considerable area of the United 
States. The properties of this are said to be similar to those of 
white hellebore." 
Verbascnm blattaria L. Scbophulabiaceae. Moth mullein. United States. 
naturalized from Europe. 
The writers' results are given on page 24. 
Verbascnm thapsus L. Common mullein. Europe and Asia, naturalized in 
the United States. 
Riley (71, />. 185) states that an alcoholic extract and a decoction 
of the leaves were ineffective against cotton caterpillars. 
Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) Willd. Asteraceae. East Indies. 
Greshoff (31, p. 92), quoting Watt, says that the bruised seeds are 
largely employed as a means of destroying pediculi. 
Vernonia noveboracensis (L.) Willd. Common ironweed. Eastern United 
States. 
"Riley (71. />. 186) states that the alcoholic extract and decoction 
wen- ineffective against cotton caterpillars. 
Vitex agnus-castus h. Vebbenaceae. Lilac chaste-tree. Mediterranean re- 
gion. 
Greshoff (33, p. 136) reports that "flies are believed to avoid the 
tree, so that when they annoy people, branches of this tree are hung 
in the huts." 
Weeds. (Species not stated.) 
Thihanlt (<v. r /), after determining that insect powder would kill 
mosquito larvae merely by being spread on the surface of water, then 
made a powder from weeds and grasses in the neighborhood and also 
found this powder to be an efficient mosquito larvicide. He decided 
that powders thus used killed mechanically, rather than by poisoning 
the larva?. 
Withania somnifera Initial. Solanaceae. Mediterranean region. 
Greshoff (33, p. 143) lists it as an insecticide. 
Xanthinm strumarium L. Asteraceae. Cocklebnr. Europe and Asia, natu- 
ralized in the United states. 
Riley (71, p. 184) says that a decoction and an alcoholic extract 
had no effect on cotton caterpillars. 
Ximenia americana L. Olacaceae. Synonyms: V. inermi* L., A', xpinosa 
Salislt. Wild-olive. Tallow-nut. Tropical regions. 
Greshoff (31, p. 32) reports that "the crushed rind is frequently 
applied by the negroes in Africa to the sores of domestic animals to 
keep oil' the fleas. 
