Am' jJu°iy?i?9hoarm"}  Some  North  American  Medicinal  Plants.  331 
The  best  known  and  most  widely  distributed  species  is  H. pulegioides, 
which  extends  from  New  England  to  Dakota  and  southward,  being 
met  with  in  the  southern  states  on  dry  hills.  From  the  resemblance 
of  its  odor  and  taste  to  the  European  Mentha  Pulegium,  Linne,  it  is 
known  throughout  the  country  as  pennyroyal  or  American  penny- 
royal. Most,  if  not  all,  the  other  species  of  Hedeoma  have  a 
different  odor.  H.  piperita,  Bentham,  for  instance,  is  peppermint- 
like, and  according  to  the  Mexican  Pharmacopoeia,  is  used  like  ard 
in  place  of  peppermint.  Some' of  the  North  American  species  may, 
perhaps,  be  locally  employed.  This  is  the  case  with  H.  thymoides, 
Gray,  which  grows  in  Texas  on  high  land  and  produces  its  pink 
and  fragrant  flowers  in  April.  In  Lavaca  County,  and  possibly  in 
other  parts  of  Texas,  the  plant  has  the  reputation  of  being  dia- 
phoretic and  febrifuge,  the  infusion  being  employed.  The  taste  of 
the  plant  is  aromatic,  citronella-like,  and  scarcely  bitterish. 
Colorado  Cough  root. — Under  this  name  a  root  has  been  received 
on  several  occasions,  which  is  said  to  be  commonly  used  in  some 
parts  of  Colorado.  It  is  evidently  derived  from  an  umbelliferous 
plant,  and  having  a  lovage-like  flavor,  may  possibly  be  the  root  ot 
a  Ligusticum,  of  which  four  species  are  known  to  be  indigenous  to 
the  state  named  (Coulter,  Rocky  Mountain  Botany,  p.  117).  But 
since  a  large  number  of  species  of  other  umbelliferous  genera  are 
likewise  peculiar  to  this  region,  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  a  reliable 
conclusion  without  botanical  specimens.  Such  were  promised,  but 
have  not  yet  been  received.  The  root  is  masticated,  and  is  also 
employed  in  the  form  of  powder  as  a  snuff  said  to  be  efficient  in 
catarrh  and  neuralgic  affections. 
Peppertree  is  the  popular  name  of  an  ornamental  tree  which  is 
not  indigenous  to  North  America,  but  is  cultivated  to  some  extent 
in  California.  The  leaves  as  well  as  the  reddish  drupaceous  fruits, 
which  are  of  the  size  of  black  pepper,  have  a  strong  peppery  flavor ; 
hence  the  popular  name.  The  tree  belongs  to  the  order  of  Ana- 
cardiacese,  and  to  a  genus  of  about  thirteen  species,  mostly  of 
tropical  America.  Schinus  Molle,  Linne,  grows  from  Mexico  south- 
ward, and  in  the  country  named  is  known  as  arbol  del  Peru,  indi- 
cating its  South  American  origin.  The  bark,  leaves,  fruit,  and  the 
gum-resinous  exudation  are  employed  medicinally,  the  former  as  a 
balsamic  astringent,  the  other  products  for  their  stimulating  proper- 
ties (see  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1866,  p.  503,  and  1885,  p.  340).  When 
