202 
Structure  of  Veratrum  Viride. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1895. 
Symplocarpus  is  also  characteristic;  but  when  the  drug  has  been 
kept  for  some  time,  this  odor  becomes  faint,  or  entirely  disappears, 
and  so  is  less  reliable  than  the  structural  characters  as  a  means  of 
identification. 
As  between  the  rhizomes  of  Veratrum  album  and  those  of  Ver- 
atrum viride,  it  would  indeed  be  very  difficult  to  distinguish  by 
structural,  or  any  other  characters,  if  the  drugs  were  trimmed  alike. 
Fortunately,  however,  this  is  not  the  case,  the  rhizomes  of  Veratrum 
album  having  the  roots  mostly  trimmed  away,  while  those  of  Ver- 
atrum viride  are  not  removed. 
Plate. — Plant  of  Veratrum  viride  in  natural  colors,  about  one-sixth  natural 
size. 
Fig.  i. — Longitudinal  section  of  fresh  rhizome,  about  one-half  natural  size. 
a,  tunicated  leaf-bases  ;  b,  above-ground  stem  ;  c,  lateral  bud;  d,  cylinder 
sheath. 
Fig.  2. — Diagram  of  half  of  cross-section  of  rhizome  magnified  about  five 
diameters,  a,  section  of  root  near  its  origin;  b,  cylinder  sheath;  c,  one  of  the 
wavy  bundles  in  cortex  ;  d,  cortical  parenchyma  ;  e,  a  bundle  of  the  central  cyl- 
inder ;  fy  parenchyma  of  the  central  cylinder. 
Fig.  j. — Portion  of  cross-section  of  root,  showing  central  radial  bundle  and  a 
little  of  the  surrounding  cortex,  a,  cell  of  cortical  parenchyma  ;  b,  endoder- 
mal  cell  opposite  phloem  mass  ;  c,  small  duct  at  outer  end  of  xylem  ray  ;  d, 
large  duct  at  inner  end  of  xylem  ray  ;  e,  phloem  mass.  Magnification,  230 
diameters. 
Fig.  4. — One  of  the  bundles  of  the  rhizome,  as  seen  in  cross-section,  magni- 
fied 370  diameters,    a,  cell  of  parenchyma  exterior  to  bundle  ;  b,  cell  of  endo- 
Fig.  6. 
DESCRIPTION  OF  FIGURES. 
