THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY, 
NOVEMBER,  1854. 
NOTICE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  INDIGENOUS  MEDICINAL  PLANTS  OF 
CALIFORNIA. 
By  Gustavus  L.  Simmons. 
California,  heretofore  rendered  famous  by  her  varied  mineral 
deposits,  will  acquire  a  new  and  as  worthy  a  name  for  her  bo- 
tanical treasures,  whenever  they  are  fully  known.  The  discovery 
of  the  gigantic  «  Washingtonia"  of  her  forests,  which  has  excited 
the  admiration  of  botanists  throughout  the  world,  may  be  called 
but  one  of  a  series  of  important  discoveries  in  this  science,  which 
a  faithful  examination  of  her  productions  cannot  fail  to  develope. 
From  the  "  Sierra  Nevada  "  range  of  mountains  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  hardly  a  mile  of  land  can  be  traversed  which  does  not 
yield  either  some  well  known  remedial  agent,  or  a  new  specimen 
of  apparently  high  medicinal  power. 
In  Medical  Botany  there  are  known  at  present  varieties  of  the 
Sarsaparilla,  Scilla,  Eupatorium,  Mentha,  Stramonium,  Rhus, 
Salvia,  Althea,  Aconitum,  and  Anthemis ;  besides  numbers  of 
shrubs  and  trees,  some  of  which  have  been  supposed  to  be  indi- 
genous only  to  foreign  countries.  One  of  these  is  the  "  Laurus 
nobilis"  or  Bay  tree,  which  grows  in  perfection  within  seventy- 
five  miles  of  Sacramento.  It  attains  the  height  of  some  ten  or 
twenty  feet.  The  leaves  are  highly  fragrant,  and  the  "bay 
water  "  distilled  from  them  has  their  peculiar  odor. 
The  "Juniperus  sabina  "  (Savine)  flourishes  in  the  soil  of  the 
lower  range  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  This  is  an  evergreen  of  thirty 
feet  high,  and  yields  a  large  quantity  of  fragrant  flowers. 
The  "  Cornus  Florida  "  also  abounds  in  the  same  localities, 
and  grows  to  the  height  of  forty  feet. 
Among  the  indigenous  medical  plants  of  California  there  are 
two  in  common  use  which  seem  to  possess  virtues  worthy  of 
notice,  the  knowledge  of  which  has  been  acquired  by  the  Ameri- 
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