i5o 
Local  Indigenous  Plants. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      March,  1893. 
imagine  such  an  arrangement  of  branches  densely  covered  with  leaves  as  a 
background  and  the  large  and  numerous  flattish  collections  of  white  flowers 
as  the  principal  features  of  the  picture,  you  could  have  some  idea  of  the  beauty 
and  grace  of  the  little  tree  in  flower.  Several  other  species  are  near  us,  how- 
ever of  no  medicinal  significance  as  far  as  we  know  ;  but,  in  Triosteum  per- 
foliatum,  or  fever  root,  we  have  a  plant  which  as  a  drug  dates  its  history  from 
the  aborigines,  though  now  fallen  from  general  use. 
In  the  order  Rubiaceae  we  have  as  a  modest  starter  the  little  Mitch ella  repe?isr 
partridge  berry,  a  prostrate  running  plant,  abundant  everywhere  in  woods, 
forming  dense  mats  of  large  areas.  Its  little  white  twin  flowers  are  suggestive 
of  the  trailing  arbutus,  to  lovers  of  that  delicate  little  plant,  but  are  rather 
fainter  in  odor.  The  bright  red  berries  are  very  prominent  during  the  winter, 
nestling  among  the  dark  evergreen  leaves  of  the  plant.  Cephalanthus  occi- 
dentalism or  button  bush,  is  an  undershrub  found  along  water-courses  and 
reminds  one  of  a  miniature  button  ball  or  sycamore  tree,  principally  by  its 
flower  heads. 
Galium  Aparine,  Cleavers,  reminds  us  sharply  that  it  is  not  to  be  passed  by 
so  hurriedly  by  our  bringing  up  suddenly  against  some  of  its  prickles  going  in 
opposite  direction.  This  weak,  straggling  plant  depends  entirely  upon  its  strong 
prickles  for  an  upright  existence,  which  it  seldom  reaches';  it  is  common  in 
moist  thickets. 
Next  we  espy,  in  late  summer  especially,  the  largest  natural  order  we  have  to 
deal  with  in  systematic  botany,  the  Compositse,  forming  as  it  does  ^  of  all 
known  spermaphytes  or  phaenogamous  plants,  and  %  of  North  American 
plants.  As  a  beginner  we  have  the  little  family  of  Eupatoriums.  In  the  moist 
portions  of  the  field  Eupatorium  perfoliatum  and  its  c< puipureum  "  brother, 
Joe-Pye-weed.  The  first  named  has  always  been  synonymous  with  the  mere 
mention  of  Materia  Medica  about  this  College,  and  does  seem  a  trifle  bulky  for 
the  tongue,  but  after  a  little  analysis  of  its  terms  the  idea  of  the  name  is  sim- 
plified materially,  and  the  same  holds  good  of  the  other  species  we  have  in  the 
vicinity.  E.  purpureum  is  so  called  from  the  purplish  stem  and  panicle  of 
flowers  ;  E.  aromaticum  from  its  pleasant  odor  ;  E.  hyssopifolium  has  hyssop- 
like leaves  ;  E.  rotundifolium  is  round-leaved  ;  E.  sessilifolium  has  the  leaves 
placed  directly  on  stem  ;  E.  ageratoides  is  like  garden  ageratum.  They  are 
all  handsome  plants  and  easy  of  study  for  belonging  to  what  is  considered  a 
very  hard  order. 
Liatris  spicata,  blazing  star,  outrivals  the  eupatorium  tribe  for  arrangement 
of  growth  and  beauty  of  flowers,  which,  as  indicated  by  its  specific  name,  are  in 
a  very  long  spike.  This  is  more  common  in  Jersey  than  in  Pennsylvania  and 
is  much  sought  for  among  nurserymen. 
Out  of  the  40  or  more  species  of  Solidago  in  Eastern  United  States  we  have 
but  one  or  two  that  have  been  used  whatever  in  medicine  ;  5".  odora,  the  chief 
of  these,  is  one  of  the  earliest  to  bloom  in  the  fall,  and  is  recognized  by  its 
leaves  giving  out  an  agreeable  odor  like  anise  when  they  are  bruised.  The 
Solidagos  are  beautiful  in  flower  and  tend  much  toward  making  autumn  the 
golden  season  of  the  year. 
Everlasting,  Gnaphalium  polycephalum,  is  another  field  representative  of 
this  great  order,  but  is  used  chiefly  in  brewing  domestic  troubles  or  ales. 
Inula  Helenium,  elecampane,  an  European  species,  is  established  hereprinci- 
