Am,ianr;i893arn1"}  Indigenous  Plants  of  Medical  Interest.  49 
a  cultivated  plant  in  many  gardens  ;  it  is  the  source  of  broom.  The  clovers, 
red  and  white,  Trifolium  pratense  and  T.  repens,  have  uses  more  empirical 
than  general.  The  sweet  clovers,-  Melilotus  officinalis  and  M.  alba  have  also 
limited  applications,  and  their  effects  are  supposedly  due  to  the  odorous  prin- 
ciple, cumarin.  They  are  fine  plants,  and  lend  an  agreeable  perfume  to  the 
natural  highways  as  well  as  the  artificial  ones  of  man.  Robinia  Pseudacacia, 
or  common  locust  tree,  has  been  used  by  the  Eclectics  to  some  extent.  It 
is  met  with  here  only  in  cultivation,  but  in  Lancaster  County  seems  to  be 
native  and  very  abundant.  Stylqsanthes  elatior,  a  plant  with  more  name  than 
size,  common  in  sandy  soil,  has  been  put  on  the  list  of  new  remedies,  and  we 
shall  expect  something.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the  Judas  tree,  Cercis 
canadensis ;  but  in  the  meanwhile  it  remains  a  handsome  shrub  or  tree  when 
in  bloom  in  early  spring.  The  flowers  are  deep  rosy  pink  and  are  placed  close 
to  the  branches  for  some  distance  down  the  stem.  As  they  are  produced  some 
time  before  the  leaves,  the  effect  produced  by  the  blossoming  is  very  striking. 
Then  we  have  in  this  order  also  Cassia  Marilandica,  that  some  authorities 
state  rivals  the  officinal  senna.  Many  country  people  use  it  altogether  in  place 
of  senna.  It  is  a  very  neat  plant,  growing  along  water-courses,  3  or  4  feet  high, 
leaflets  12-18,  about  1  inch  long,  the  stem  terminated  by  an  ample  panicle 
of  yellow  flowers. 
Prunus  Virginiana,  order  Rosaceae,  is  an  old  stand-by  in  our  stores,  but  our 
botanists  do  not  stand  by  it ;  for  the  Prunus  Virginiana,  of  Linnaeus,  is  our 
choke  cherry,  only  a  tall  shrub  with  gray  bark,  while  the  officinal  bark  comes 
from  P.  serotina  of  Ehrhardt,  which  is  a  large  tree  with  dark  brown  bark. 
Loiseleur  called  this  species  Cerasus  serotina,  as  did  DeCandolle,  but  Michaux 
called  it  C.  Virginiana.  Spireea  tomentosa  is  quite  common  in  the  southern 
portion  of  New  Jersey,  and  is  a  worthy  representative  of  the  genus.  Gillenia  tri- 
foliata  is  common  to  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  known  as  Indian  physic,  and  is  a 
frequenter  of  woodlands,  but  well  scattered.  The  genus  Rubus  furnishes  us 
with  the  beautiful  species  :  R.  odoratus,  for  which  we  claim  no  remedial  vir- 
tues at  present ;  R.  strigosus  and  R.  villosus,  the  blackberry  and  raspberry,  are 
very  well  known  and  easily  recognized.  Fragaria  vesca  and  Potentilla  cana- 
densis are  old  friends,  now  appearing  with  the  same  face's  among  new  remedies 
and  we  look  for  work. 
The  order  Saxifragaceae  sends  us  Heuchera  Americana,  though  all  species  are 
noted  for  their  great  astringency.    The  species  named  is  quite  common. 
Drosera  rotundifolia,  from  swamps  in  New  Jersey,  is  an  addition  to  materia 
medica,  and  we  hope  it  may  prove  as  interesting  to  medical  science  as  it  has  to 
histological  workers. 
The  order  Hamamelidese,  on  following  the  divining  rod  to  its  point,  shows  us 
the  witch  hazel,  bending  far  out  over  the  little  stream  of  water.  There  is  noth- 
ing remarkable  about  Hamamelis  Virginiana,  unless  it  is  the  fact  of  its  putting 
forth  its  flowers  when  it  and  all  others  have  dropped  their  leaves,  which 
renders  it  very  prominent  then,  of  course. 
Opuntia  vulgaris  is  the  only  member  of  the  cactus  tribe  that  we  have 
in  the  East,  and  most  of  that  is  found  in  New  Jersey.  It  is  not  likely  to  soon 
become  a  valued  drug,  but'it  will  always  remain  a  fine  cultivated  plant.  We 
cannot  refrain  from  calling  your  attention  to  the  magnificent  growth  of  this 
plant  on  the  rocky  cliffs  along  the  Delaware  River,  above  Milford,  N.  J.  They 
