Part 5

_Description of plant._—The cotton plant in flower or with the bursting bolls showing the fluffy white fiber is very handsome. It belongs to the mallow family (Malvaceæ), and ranges from about 1 to 4 feet in height, with a woody and somewhat branching stem. The leaves of the American Upland cotton, _Gossypium hirsutum_, are 5 lobed, the lobes sharply pointed. The flowers when they first open are creamy white, later on turning purple, and the bracts are deeply cleft. The 4 to 5 celled cotton bolls are roundish oval, bluntly pointed at the top, green at first, but turning brown as they mature, bursting open (September to November in the Southern States), and disclosing the fine fiber that surrounds and completely hides the seeds, and which forms the “cotton” of commerce. (Fig. 36.) This cotton is picked from the bolls by hand, and sent to the cotton gins, where the seed is separated from the lint by machines known by that name. The seed, aside from its use for planting, is employed for fertilizing and feeding purposes, and an oil is also expressed therefrom.

_Description of bark._—Cottonroot bark is official in the United States Pharmacopœia, and the article of commerce consists of long, thin bands, or quills, flexible, of a brownish yellow color on the outside, showing faint ridges and dots or lines. Sometimes the entire outer corky layer, which is thin, is wanting, or there are brownish orange patches where this thin layer has rubbed off or worn away. The inner surface of the bark has a whitish, silky, shining appearance, marked with fine lines. The long, tough bast fibers separate into papery layers. There is no odor, but a faintly acrid and astringent taste.

_Collection, prices, and uses._—The roots are taken up as late as November or December, but before frost, washed, the bark removed with knives, and carefully dried. The fresh bark is regarded as more reliable than the old bark.

At present cotton-root bark is paid for at the rate of from 3 to 5 cents a pound.

This bark, with its emmenagogue and parturifacient properties, forms a valuable remedy in the hands of the physician.

The cotton (the hairs of the seed), freed from impurities and deprived of all fatty matter, is also official in the United States Pharmacopœia.

An oil is expressed from the seed, and various domestic uses have been made of the seed and also of the flowers and leaves.

[Footnote 7: Dewey, L. H. The Identity of American Upland Cotton. Science, n. s., vol. 19, p. 337. 1904.]

[Footnote 8: Dewey, L. H. Principal Commercial Plant Fibers. Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1903, p. 388.]

DOGWOOD.

_Cornus florida_ L.

_Other common names._—Cornus, flowering dogwood, American dogwood, Virginia dogwood, Florida dogwood, boxwood, New England boxwood, false boxwood, American cornelian tree, flowering cornel, Florida cornel, white cornel, Indian arrowwood, nature’s-mistake.

_Habitat and range._—Dogwood, native in this country, occurs in woods from Massachusetts and southern Ontario to Florida, Texas, and Missouri, but grows most abundantly in the Middle States.

_Description of tree._—The dogwood, which belongs to the dogwood family (Cornaceæ), is never a large tree, its greatest height being 40 feet, and more frequently it occurs as a shrub. It is one of the most conspicuous trees in early spring, the naked, leafless branches supporting numerous large, showy white flowers, so called. The white, petal-like parts, however, which are the most showy portions, are in reality “bracts,” the “flowers” themselves being greenish yellow and inconspicuous, except for these four surrounding bracts. The four bracts, or petal-like parts, are white, sometimes pink tinged, of an inverted oval or heart shape, with prominent parallel veins, and peculiarly notched at the end, as though a piece had been torn or bitten out. (Fig. 38.)

After the flowers have disappeared the leaves are put forth. These are generally oval, entire, from 3 to 6 inches in length, the upper surface dark green and smooth or only minutely hairy, while the under surface is lighter in color with slightly hairy veins. The leaves turn a bright red in autumn and with the scarlet fruit, or berries, form a very showy and attractive addition to the autumnal woods. (Fig. 38.)

The trunk of the dogwood is covered with a grayish brown, rough, and fissured bark (fig. 37), and the brown wood is hard and close grained.

_Description of bark._—The root bark as found in the stores has had the fissured grayish brown outside layer removed and consists of short, reddish brown, curved pieces or chips about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The inside is of a reddish purple color, with many short, broad grooves. The fracture is short. It has an astringent, bitter taste, but practically no odor.

_Collection, prices, and uses._—Dogwood bark is collected from the root in the fall. It brings from 1 to 3 cents a pound.

It is used in medicine for its astringent, tonic, stimulant, and febrifuge properties and in the fresh state is said to be emetic. The root bark was official in the Pharmacopœia from 1830 to 1890. During the Revolutionary war it was much employed as a substitute for Peruvian bark or cinchona.

The flowers and fruits have properties similar to those of the bark.

_Other species._—The bark of the swamp-dogwood (_Cornus amomum_ Mill., syn., _C. sericea_ L.), and the round-leaved dogwood (_C. circinata_ L’Her.) are also used, being sometimes substituted for the flowering dogwood.

The swamp-dogwood, known also as red osier, silky cornel, rose-willow, blue-berried cornel, kinnikinnick, female dogwood, red-brush, red-rod, red willow, and squawbush, is a shrub native in low woods and along streams from Canada to Florida, west to Texas and the Dakotas.

The bark of this species, which was official from 1820 to 1880, is used like the flowering dogwood bark, but is said to be less bitter and astringent. It occurs in thin, quilled pieces, of a purplish brown color on the outside, with fewer warty excrescences than the following species, but otherwise similar. The price paid for this bark ranges from 4 to 6 cents a pound.

The round-leaved dogwood or cornel, called also green osier, is an indigenous shrub growing in shady places in Canada and the northeastern United States.

This bark is also used like that of the flowering dogwood, and was official from 1820 to 1880. It is said to possess less astringency than the flowering dogwood, but is more bitter. In commerce it is found in quilled or curved pieces, of a brownish gray or greenish color outside, with corky warts or marked with lengthwise lines, the inside brown. This also brings from about 4 to 6 cents a pound.

MOOSEWOOD.

_Dirca palustris_ L.

_Other common names._—Dirca, American mezereon, leatherwood, leatherbush, leverwood, leaverwood, rope-bark, swampwood, wickopy, wickup.

_Habitat and range._—This native shrub is found in wet woods and thickets from New Brunswick to Florida, west to Missouri and Minnesota, but is most common in the Northern and Eastern States.

_Description of shrub._—The moosewood, a shrub belonging to the mezereon family (Daphnaceæ), is from 2 to about 6 feet in height, with tough, fibrous bark, and smooth, yellowish green twigs. The leaves, which are hairy when young, are oval with a blunt apex, rounded or narrowed at the base; they become smoother as they mature, and are from 2 to 3 inches long. The flower clusters are produced from April to May, from brown-hairy, scaly buds and consist of 2 to 4 yellowish, funnel-shaped flowers about one-half inch in length, with stamens and style protruding. (Fig. 39.) The one-seeded fruit, or berry, is small, red, oval oblong, and poisonous.

_Description of bark._—Moosewood bark occurs in long, stringy, or quilled pieces, light brown or grayish brown on the outside, slightly wrinkled lengthwise, marked here and there with warty excrescences and an occasional patch of lichen growth, the inside straw colored and smooth. The bark is exceedingly tough and fibrous, and can not be broken. The odor is rather strong and aromatic, and the taste pungent and acrid.

_Prices and uses._—Moosewood bark brings from 5 to 10 cents a pound.

It has emetic and laxative properties, and in decoction is used as a sudorific and expectorant. The fresh bark applied externally is very irritating to the skin, causing redness and blisters.

WHITE ASH.

_Fraxinus americana_ L.

_Synonyms._—_Fraxinus alba_ Marsh; _Fraxinus acuminata_ Lam.

_Other common names._—Ash, American white ash, cane-ash.

_Habitat and range._—The white ash is native in rich woods, occurring from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas, but chiefly in the Northern States and Canada.

_Description of tree._—This tree, a member of the olive family (Oleaceæ), sometimes attains a height of 120 feet or so, usually, however, from 60 to 80 feet, the older trees with gray, deeply furrowed bark (fig. 40), and smooth, greenish gray branches. The leaf buds are rust colored, and the white ash is one of the latest trees to put out leaves in the spring. The leaves measure about 12 inches in length and consist of 5 to 9 leaflets; these are oval or lance-shaped oblong, the margins entire, the apex pointed, dark green above and pale green or silvery beneath, or sometimes hairy, 3 to 5 inches long, and somewhat less than half as wide (fig. 41). In autumn they change to yellow, mottled with green, and finally turn black. The small, whitish green flowers are arranged in loose clusters, appearing from about April to June, and the fruits which follow are in the form of clustered winged seeds, or “samaras” (fig. 41), which remain on the branches for a long time. Each samara is from 1 to 2 inches long, narrow, flat, and one seeded. The wood of white ash is brown, hard, and strong.

_Description of bark._—The bark of white ash, as found in the stores, is whitish or inclined to yellowish brown, about one-fourth of an inch thick or less, the outside corky layer generally having been removed, but pieces of it often adhering. The inner surface is smooth and yellow. The fracture is very fibrous. White-ash bark has a faint aromatic odor and a bitter, acrid taste.

_Collection, prices, and uses._—The bark of the root is preferred, although that from the trunk is also collected; the outer layer is usually removed. The amount at present paid for white-ash bark ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound.

White-ash bark has been employed as an antiperiodic in intermittent fever, and is said to possess tonic and astringent properties. The leaves in infusion have been used in the treatment of gout and rheumatism.

_Another species._—The black ash (_Fraxinus nigra_ Marsh, syn., _Fraxinus sambucifolia_ Lam.) is also a native, inhabiting swamps and wet woods from Canada to Virginia and Arkansas. Other names applied to it are hoop-ash, swamp-ash, water-ash, and basket-ash. Its maximum height is 100 feet, and its bark is darker gray and less fissured than that of the white ash, and its leaves are darker green. The leaves are about 16 inches in length, the 7 to 11 stemless leaflets perhaps a trifle paler green on the lower surface than above, and with rust-colored hairs on the midrib and veins of the lower surface. These leaflets are 3 to 6 inches long, narrow, oblong lance shaped, with long-pointed apex, the margins sharply toothed. The flowers appear from about April to May, and are followed by clusters of winged seeds, each flat, winged, linear-oblong fruit measuring from 1 to 1-1/2 inches in length, narrow, with the winged portion extending all around the seed.

The bark, and also the leaves, are employed in medicine for similar purposes as those of the white ash. The bark brings about 3 to 5 cents a pound.

FRINGE-TREE.

_Chionanthus virginica_ L.

_Other common names._—American fringe-tree, white fringe, flowering ash, poison-ash, graybeard-tree, old-man’s-beard, shavings, snowdrop-tree, snow-flower.

_Habitat and range._—The fringe-tree is native in moist thickets and along streams from Delaware to Florida and Texas.

_Description of shrub._—When in full flower this shrub or small tree, with its dense clusters of white, fringelike flowers, is very attractive, and is often cultivated for ornament. It is a member of the olive family (Oleaceæ), and is from 6 to 20 feet in height, the trunk covered with a light-colored bark, the leaves oval or oblong, of a leathery texture, and smooth. The flowers, which from their drooping character give a fringelike appearance, are produced in May and June, and are borne in dense clusters, each flower having four very narrow white petals about an inch in length. (Fig. 42.) The fruits which follow are fleshy, oval, and bluish black, containing a one-seeded nut.

_Description of bark._—The bark of the root is the part employed in medicine, and it is in quilled or curved pieces of unequal size and shape, rather thick, the outside of a yellowish brown color, somewhat wrinkled, the inside yellowish brown or dark brown, marked with lengthwise lines. It breaks with a short, smooth fracture, and has but a faint odor.

_Prices and uses._—At present collectors are paid from about 5 to 8 cents a pound.

It possesses tonic, febrifuge, and laxative properties, and is also said to have a narcotic action.

BITTERSWEET.

_Solanum dulcamara_ L.

_Other common names._—Dulcamara, nightshade, climbing nightshade, woody nightshade, amara-dulcis, fevertwig, violet-bloom, blue bindweed, felonwort, poison-berry, poison-flower, pushion-berry, morrel, snakeberry, wolf-grape, scarlet-berry, tether-devil, dwale, skawcoo.

_Habitat and range._—Bittersweet has been naturalized from Europe, and occurs in low, damp grounds and moist banks of rivers from New Brunswick to Minnesota, south to New Jersey and Kansas.

_Description of plant._—This climbing, shrubby perennial is often planted as an ornamental, and with its clusters of pretty purplish flowers and branches of berries ranging in color from green to yellow and orange, and finally red, occurring on the vine together, it makes a rather attractive showing. Bittersweet has a climbing, somewhat woody, branched stem, about 2 to 8 feet long, and oval leaves 2 to 4 inches long, pointed at the apex, and somewhat heart shaped at the base. Some of the leaves have one lobe at the base, some three lobes, while others are entire. The purplish flowers, resembling those of the potato (to which family, Solanaceæ, this plant belongs), are produced from about May to September, borne in compound lateral clusters. The fruits, or berries, which ripen in autumn, are oval, red, and juicy, and contain numerous whitish seeds. (Fig. 43.) The berries look very tempting, but they are poisonous, and children have been known to be poisoned by eating them.

_Description of medicinal part._—The young branches of bittersweet are the parts employed in medicine, and were official in the United States Pharmacopœia for 1890. As found in commerce, they consist of cylindrical pieces of varying length and of not more than about one-fifth of an inch in thickness, with a greenish gray thin bark, marked with lengthwise lines. The woody portion is light, and the center is sometimes hollow, and sometimes shows a spongy pith. There is but a faint, somewhat narcotic odor, and the taste at first is bitter, then sweet—“bittersweet.”

_Collection, prices, and uses._—Bittersweet branches are collected when they are only one or two years old and at a time when the leaves have fallen. The price paid ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound.

Bittersweet is used for its diuretic and diaphoretic properties, and, according to the dose employed, has a quieting, hypnotic influence.

BUTTONBUSH.

_Cephalanthus occidentalis_ L.

_Other common names._—Buttonwood, buttonwood-shrub, button-tree, swamp-dogwood, pond-dogwood, swampwood, river-bush, honey-ball, pinball, whiteball, little snowball, globeflower, mountain-globeflower, crane-willow, wild licorice, crouper-bush.

_Habitat and range._—The buttonbush is indigenous to this country, and flourishes in swamps or damp places from southern Canada to Florida and California.

_Description of shrub._—This is usually a widely spreading shrub from 3 to 12 feet in height or occasionally a small tree, with large, shining, dark green leaves, and producing from June to September round heads of creamy white flowers, the protruding, threadlike styles with the small, knoblike stigmas giving them the appearance of inserted pins, whence the name “pinball.” The stems are covered with a rough yellowish bark, while the smaller branches are smooth and tinged with red. Some of the leaves are opposite, others ternate—that is, arranged in threes—and are ovate or ovate lance shaped, pointed, smooth, and glossy, with unbroken margins, and from 3 to 5 inches long. The flower heads, about 1 inch in diameter, consist of numerous creamy white, stemless flowers, densely crowded together in globular form, each flower having a funnel-shaped corolla with 4-toothed margin, from which the slender style with its globular stigma protrudes. (Fig. 44.) The small dry fruit is inversely pear shaped, splitting open into two to four cells, each containing one seed. The buttonbush belongs to the madder family (Rubiaceæ).

_Description of bark._—The bark occurs commercially in small, curved pieces, smooth and grayish brown and marked with fine lines if taken from young trees, furrowed and scaly and of a dull gray color if collected from older trees. The inner root bark, which is also used, occurs in shorter pieces, and is of a reddish brown color. The inner surface of the bark is whitish and smooth, becoming a pale rust color when it is no longer fresh. It breaks with a tough, fibrous fracture, and has no odor, but a bitter and somewhat astringent taste.

_Collection, prices, and uses._—The bark is collected from both stem and root. It brings about 7 cents a pound, but at present there seems to be no very great demand for it.

Buttonbush bark is used in fevers, and the inner bark is employed in coughs and as a diuretic.

CRAMP-BARK TREE.

_Viburnum opulus_ L.

_Pharmacopœial name._—Viburnum opulus.

_Other common names._—Cranberry-tree, high-bush cranberry, wild guelder-rose, gueldres-rose, cherry-wood, dog rowan-tree, whitten-tree, red elder, rose-elder, marsh-elder, water-elder, white elder, gadrise, gaiter-tree, gatten, love-rose, May-rose, pincushion-tree, squawbush, witch-hobble, witch-hopple.

_Habitat and range._—This native shrub occurs in low rich woods and borders of fields from New Jersey, Michigan, and Oregon, northward.

_Description of shrub._—The whitish flower heads of this species are borne on stems about 1 inch in length, and measure from 3 to 4 inches across; the flowers on the outside are large, sometimes an inch in diameter, and sterile (without stamens or pistils), while those on the inside of the flower cluster are considerably smaller and fertile. The cultivated variety of this species, the well-known ornamental “snowball” of the gardens, has all of its flowers sterile.

The cramp-bark tree grows from 8 to 10 feet high, with branches generally erect and smooth, and broadly oval, 3-lobed leaves. The leaves are usually smooth on the upper surface, but with the veins on the lower surface somewhat hairy, and the margins coarsely toothed. The showy white flower clusters appear about June. The red fruits, which ripen rather late in the season and remain on the bush for some time, are roundish or oval, sour, and contain a round, flat stone. As may be inferred from some of the common names applied to this shrub, the fruit in taste and appearance bears some resemblance to the cranberry. The cramp-bark tree is a member of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceæ).

_Description of bark._—Cramp bark, official in the United States Pharmacopœia under the name “Viburnum opulus,” is in transversely curved pieces, sometimes quilled, one-sixteenth of an inch or less in thickness, the outside grayish brown surface marked with lengthwise wrinkles and brown lenticels, and the inside pale brown, showing lengthwise lines. It breaks with a tough, fibrous fracture. There is practically no odor, and the taste is astringent and bitter.

_Collection, prices, and uses._—Cramp bark is collected in the fall, and at present is paid for at the rate of about 2 to 4-1/2 cents a pound.

Cramp bark, as this name indicates, is of use as an antispasmodic, and is also said to possess nervine, tonic, and astringent properties.

BLACK HAW.

_Viburnum prunifolium_ L.

_Pharmacopœial name._—Viburnum prunifolium.

_Other common names._—Sloe, sloe-leaved viburnum, stagbush.

_Habitat and range._—The black haw occurs in dry woods and thickets and on rocky hillsides from Connecticut to Florida, west to Michigan and Texas, but is found in greatest abundance in the South. It is indigenous to this country.

_Description of shrub._—This shrub or small tree, from 10 to about 20 feet in height, has rather stout, spreading branches. The winter buds are small, short pointed, smooth, or sometimes with reddish hairs. Black haw has broadly oval or roundish-oval leaves, blunt or somewhat pointed at the top, 1 to 3 inches long, with a narrow or rounded base; they are nearly smooth, bright green, and have a finely toothed margin. The numerous stemless flower clusters are from 2 to 4 inches broad, composed of numerous white flowers appearing from April to June. The fruit, which is sweet and edible, is oval or somewhat roundish, about half an inch long, bluish black, covered with a bloom, and ripens in early autumn. It contains a somewhat flattened stone. (Fig. 45.)

_Description of bark._—The bark of the stem was formerly official, but now the dried bark of the root is the part prescribed by the United States Pharmacopœia, Eighth Decennial Revision. It is in irregular or quilled pieces, of a dull brown color on the outer surface, somewhat scaly and with shallow furrows; the inner surface reddish brown, and the whole breaking with a weak, short, uneven fracture. There is a faint peculiar odor, and a very bitter, somewhat astringent taste.

_Collection, prices, and uses._—Black haw bark is collected in autumn. The present prices to collectors are from 3 to 8 cents a pound.

This bark has nervine, antispasmodic, tonic, and diuretic properties.

_Another species._—The sweet viburnum (_Viburnum lentago_ L.), known also as nanny-berry and sheepberry, is a species which is collected with _prunifolium_, and, with it, considered official. It grows in rich soil from Canada south to Georgia and Kansas.