THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
SEPTEMBER,  1894. 
STRUCTURE  OF  PODOPHYLLUM.  ^ 
By  Kdson  S.  Bastin. 
The  rhizomes  of  podophyllum  grow  horizontally  or  nearly  so,  but 
two  or  three  inches  beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  in  favor- 
able soil,  such  as  that  of  rich  woods,  may  attain  a  length  of  a  yard 
or  more.  Except  for  the  swollen  nodes  that  occur  along  them  at 
intervals  of  from  two  to  five  inches,  they  are  nearly  cylindrical,  and 
when  well  developed  have  the  thickness  of  an  ordinary  lead  pencil. 
The  large  nodes,  however,  may  be  twice  as  thick.  From  these,  lat- 
eral branches  are  occasionally  sent  out,  which  resemble  the  parent 
rhizome,  and  also  from  their  vicinity  (mainly  from  the  sides  and 
lower  surface)  spring  most  of  the  roots  with  which  the  rhizomes  are 
provided. 
The  rhizome  increases  in  length  by  means  of  an  axillary  bud 
near  its  apex,  and  after  it  has  attained  a  length  of  two  or  three  feet, 
it  decays  at  the  base.  By  reason  of  this,  each  plant  year  by  year  is 
slowly  travelling  through  the  soil,  and  because  the  rhizome  also 
branches,  the  one  plant  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  becomes  a 
colony  of  plants. 
It  is  chiefly  for  this  reason  that  we  find  the  plants  growing  close 
together  in  patches,  sometimes  covering  many  square  rods  so  densely 
with  their  foliage  as  to  completely  hide  the  ground. 
Between  the  swollen  nodes  we  have  mentioned,  occur  the  angular 
scars  of  bud-scales  that  have  decayed  as  the  rhizome  developed,  and 
about  the  large,  circular  scars  found  on  the  upper  sides  of  the  swol- 
(4i7) 
