326        Botanical  Origin  of  Pharmacopceial  Drugs.  { Amji?y%Smnu' 
is  produced  by  Polygala  alba,  Nuttall.  Since  the  present  edition  of 
Gray's  Manual  includes  also  the  plants  west  of  the  Mississippi  to 
Western  Kansas,  it  gives  a  description  of  this  plant  as  well  as  of 
the  true  senega  plant,  and  it  will,  therefore,  be  of  special  interest  to 
compare  the  botanical  characteristics  of  the  two,  which  are  given 
as  follows : 
P.  Senega,  Linnc.  P.  Alba,  Nuttall. 
Stems  several    from    thick  Stems  several   from  -a  hard 
and    hard    knotty   rootstocks,  rootstock  i  foot  high  ; 
simple  (6  to  12  in.  high)  ; 
Leaves  lanceolate  or  oblong-  Leaves  narrowly  linear,  3-12 
lanceolate,  with  rough  margins  ;  lines  long,  acute  ; 
Wings  (i.  e.,  2  inner  sepals)  Wings  oblong-obovate  ; 
rouud-obovate,  concave  ; 
Crest  (of  lower  petal)  short ;  Crest  small  ; 
Caruncle  (of  seed)  nearly  as  Lobes  of  the  caruncle  half 
long  as  the  seed.  the  length  of  the  appressed-silky 
seed. 
Habitat.  Rocky  soil,  W.  New  Nebraska    and    Kansas  to 
England  to  Minn.,  and  south-  Texas, 
ward. 
From  the  descriptions  it  will  be  observed  that  the  close  resem- 
blance is  not  confined  to  the  roots,  but  applies  also  to  the  over- 
ground organs  of  the  plant. 
Fennel  "has  become  naturalized  along  the  shores  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  and  is  a  common  escape."  The  name  preferred  for 
the  plant  is  Fceniculum  officinale,  Allioni,  while  the  present  Pharma- 
copoeia has  F.  vulgare,  Gaertncr. 
Caraivay,  Carum  Carui,  Linne,  is  stated  to  be  "  naturalized  in 
many  places,  especially  northward." 
Conium  maculatum,  Ltnne,  appears  to  have  spread  considerably 
on  this  continent.  Of  late  years  I  have  received  specimens  of  the 
plant  from  several  localities  in  Pennsylvania  and  neighboring  states, 
where  it  did  not  exist  about  twenty  years  ago.  The  present 
"  Manual  "  states  that  the  plant  grows  in  waste  places  from  New 
England  to  Pennsylvania,  and  west  to  Iowa  and  Minnesota. 
Burdock  is  enumerated  under  the  Linnaean  name  Arctium  Lapp  a  y 
replacing  Lappa  officinalis,  Allioni,  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
Dandelion  is  now  Taraxacum  officinale,  Weber,  in  the  place  of  T. 
Dens-leonis,  Desfontaines,  as  at  present  recognized  by  the  Pharma- 
copoeia. 
