346 
The  Genus  Psoralea. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm . 
July,  1889. 
means  "  affected  with  the  itch  or  with  leprosy,"  and  has  reference  to 
the  usually  blackish  glandular  points  found  on  the  calyx  and  often  on 
other  herbaceous  portions  of  most  of  the  species.  The  plants  are  bo- 
tanically  closely  related  to  the  genus  Amorpha,  of  which  the  indigen- 
ous A.  fruticosa  has  a  bark  rich  in  tannin  and  containing  a  brown-red 
coloring  matter,  dyeing  yellow  with  alum.  The  genera  Glycyrrhiza, 
Astragalus,  Indigofera,  Robinia,  Wistaria  and  others  belong  to  the 
same  tribe.  The  genus  Psoralea  comprises  herbs,  also  shrubs,  having 
leaves  mostly  divided  into  three  or  five  leaflets,  and  a  spiked  or  ra- 
cemed  inflorescence,  the  flowers  being  mostly  purplish  or  blueish  ;  the 
fruit  is  a  one-seeded,  indehiscent,  frequently  rough  or  wrinkled  legume, 
which  is  about  the  length  of  the  persistent  calyx.  About  one  hun- 
dred species  of  Psoralea  have  been  described,  of  which  more  than  forty, 
or  nearly  one-half,  belong  to  Southern  Africa,  five  or  six  to  South 
America,  and  about  thirty  to  North  America ;  the  greater  portion  of 
the  latter  are  confined  to  the  Southern  States  and  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  eight  are  found  in  California. 
Only  a  small  number  of  the  species  have  been  used,  some  medicin- 
ally, others  as  food.  The  food  plants  as  far  as  known,  have  their 
homes  in  the  western  section  of  North  America.  Two  were  men- 
tioned some  years  ago  by  Dr.  Edward  Palmer  in  a  paper  entitled 
" Plants  Used  by  the  Indians"  (see  American  Journal  of  Phar- 
macy, 1878,  p.  545),  namely  : 
Ps.  castorea,  Watson,  growing  from  Arizona  to  Nevada ;  the  large 
white  farinaceous  roots  are  eaten  by  the  Pah-Utes,  raw  as  well  as  cooked, 
or  made  into  bread  or  mush.    The  same  tribe  uses  also  the  roots  of 
Ps.  mephitica,  Watson,  which  are  small  but  farinaceous.  The 
plant  is  abundant  in  low  places  in  Southern  Utah ;  its  specific  name 
refers  to  the  unpleasant  odor  of  the  leaves. 
Ps.  esculenta,  Pursh,  has  been  more  widely  known  than  the  pre- 
ceding two  species.  In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  it  was 
brought  to  Europe  by  Lamare-Picquot  who  recommended  it  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  potato.  It  was  cultivated  for  some  time  in  France 
where  it  became  known  as  picquotiane ;  but  the  results  were  not 
encouraging,  and  at  present  it  is  rarely  met  with  in  Europe. 
I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Clifford  Richardson  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
for  the  following  graphic  description  of  the  plant,  its  tuberous  root 
and  the  uses  of  the  latter,  written  by  Dr.  V.  Havard,  Surgeon  U.  S. 
Army  at  Fort  A.  Lincoln,  Dakota. 
