Part 3

CATNIP. _Nepeta cataria_ L.

=Other common names.=—Catmint, catrup, cat’s wort, field mint. (Fig. 20.)

=Range and habitat.=—This very common weed is naturalized from Europe, and is found in rather dry soil in waste places and cultivated land, about old buildings and along fences, from Canada to Minnesota and southward to Virginia and Arkansas.

=Description.=—The erect, square stems of this perennial herb of the mint family (Menthaceæ) grow to a height of 2 to 3 feet, are branched, and somewhat whitish in appearance from the covering of fine white hairs.

The leaves are opposite and borne on stems, heart shaped or oblong, with an acute apex, 1 to 2½ inches long, evenly and finely scalloped, green above, beneath grayish-green with fine white hairs. The many-flowered clusters appear from June to September, and are borne in thick spikes 1 to 5 inches long at the top of the stems and branches. The flowers are white or somewhat purple, two-lipped, the upper lip two-cleft, the lower one three-lobed and sometimes spotted with red, the middle lobe broadest and round-toothed.

=Parts used.=—The flowering tops and leaves are to be collected when the plant is in flower and carefully dried. They have a strong mint-like odor and a bitter taste. The coarser stems and branches should be rejected.

Catnip is used in derangements of women, as a mild stimulant and tonic, and has a quieting effect on the nervous system.

=Imports and prices.=—Cataria or catnip is imported in but small quantities. The price paid for the flowering tops and leaves is from 2 to 8 cents per pound.

HOARHOUND. _Marrubium vulgare_ L.

=Other common names.=—Houndsbene, marvel, marrube. (Fig. 21.)

=Range and habitat.=—Hoarhound has been naturalized from Europe, and has escaped from gardens in this country, being found now rather abundantly in dry sandy or stony soil in waste places, pastures, fields, along roadsides, and near dwellings, from Maine to South Carolina, Texas, and westward to California and Oregon. It is very abundant in pastures in California, Oregon, and in limited areas in Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Michigan. In southern California this plant has proved a most troublesome weed, occurring almost everywhere and growing in such dense masses as to crowd out all other vegetation. It has spread rapidly over thousands of acres, taking complete possession of the land and destroying pastures.

=Description.=—The entire plant has a whitish, woolly appearance, caused by the dense covering of hairs. It is a perennial plant, and as will be seen from the characteristic lip-shaped flowers, is a member of the mint family (Menthaceæ). The whole plant has a rather pleasant, balsamic odor.

Hoarhound is a bushy, branching herb, with fibrous roots sending up numerous woolly stems about 1 to 3 feet high, rounded below and four-angled above. The leaves are opposite each other, 1 to 2 inches long, oval or nearly round, wrinkled, somewhat blunt at the apex, narrowed or somewhat heart shaped at the base, with rounded teeth, somewhat hairy and wrinkled on the upper surface, and prominently veined and very hoary on the lower surface. The flowers are whitish, two-lipped, the upper lip two-lobed, the lower three-lobed, and are borne in dense, woolly clusters in the axils of the leaves. (Fig. 22.) The plant flowers from June to September, and the characteristic hooked calyx teeth of the mature flower clusters cling to the wool of sheep like a bur, resulting in the scattering of the seeds.

=Parts used.=—The leaves and tops are used in medicine. These should be gathered just before the herb is in flower, rejecting the coarse stalks, and should be dried in the shade in the usual manner. The balsamic odor diminishes in drying. The herb has a bitter, persistent taste.

Hoarhound is well known as a remedy for colds, and is also used in dyspepsia and for expelling worms.

=Imports and prices.=—A considerable quantity of marrubium or hoarhound is imported, about 125,000 pounds coming into this country annually. Three to 8 cents is the price paid per pound.

BLESSED THISTLE. _Cnicus benedictus_ L.

=Other common names.=—Holy thistle, bitter thistle, Our Lady’s thistle, St. Benedict’s thistle, cursed thistle, spotted thistle. (Fig. 23.)

=Range and habitat.=—This weed has been introduced from Europe and occurs in stony, uncultivated localities and waste places in the Southern States and in California and Utah.

=Description.=—Blessed thistle is an annual plant belonging to the aster family (Asteraceæ). The round stems are erect, about 1 to 2 feet high, branched, and rather woolly. The leaves are more or less hairy, the lower ones borne on petioles (leaf stems), the upper ones sessile (stemless) and clasping the stem. They are oblong-lanceolate and wavy-lobed. The terminal yellow flower heads are surrounded by scales of a leathery texture, which are prolonged into long, hard, branching spines.

=Parts used.=—The leaves and tops should be collected when the plant is in flower, about June, thoroughly and quickly dried, and kept in a vessel from which moisture, light, and air should be excluded. They have a somewhat disagreeable odor and the taste is very bitter.

Blessed thistle is employed in fevers, dyspepsia, and as a tonic to restore the appetite.

=Imports and prices.=—This plant is cultivated in Germany, from which country it is imported to a limited extent. The price per pound ranges from 8 to 10 cents.

YARROW. _Achillea millefolium_ L.

=Other common names.=—Milfoil, thousand leaf, thousand-leaved clover, green arrow, gordoloba, nosebleed, bloodwort, carpenter’s grass, sanguinary, soldiers’ woundwort, old man’s pepper. (Fig. 24.)

=Range and habitat.=—This herb is a common weed from the New England States to Missouri and in scattered localities in other parts of the country, occurring along roadsides, in old fields, pastures, and meadows.

=Description.=—Yarrow is a perennial belonging to the aster family (Asteraceæ). It is about 10 to 20 inches in height, its numerous dark-green feathery leaves divided into very fine crowded parts. The flowers are produced in abundance from June to September. These are small, white (sometimes rose-colored), and are crowded in dense flat-topped heads.

The odor of yarrow is strong and aromatic, very similar to that of chamomile, and the taste is sharp and bitter. When this plant is eaten by cows its bitter taste and strong odor are imparted to dairy products.

=Parts used.=—The entire plant is collected when in flower, and is carefully dried. The coarser stems should be rejected. The plant loses nearly four-fifths of its weight in drying.

Yarrow is a stimulant tonic, acts upon the bladder, and checks excessive discharges.

=Imports and prices.=—This is an imported article, though not brought into the United States in large quantities. The price of achillea or yarrow ranges from 2 to 5 cents per pound.

CANADA FLEABANE. _Leptilon canadense_ (L.) Britton. (_Erigeron canadensis_ L.)

=Other common names.=—Horseweed, colt’s tail, scabious, prideweed, butter weed, fireweed, blood-stanch, cow’s tail, bitter weed. (Fig. 25.)

=Range and habitat.=—This weed is common in damp, sandy soils in fields and waste places and along roadsides in many parts of the United States, especially throughout the northern Mississippi Valley.

=Description.=—Canada fleabane is an annual weed belonging to the aster family (Asteraceæ). The stem, which is bristly-hairy, or sometimes smooth, varies greatly in height, according to the soil, being sometimes only 3 inches high, and in favorable soil often reaching a height of 10 feet. The larger plants are branched near the top. The leaves are usually somewhat hairy, those scattered along the stem being rather narrow, with unbroken margins, and the lower ones slightly toothed. From June to November numerous heads of small inconspicuous white flowers are produced, followed by an abundance of seed.

=Parts used.=—The entire herb is medicinal, and should be gathered during the flowering period and carefully dried. It has a faint, agreeable odor and a somewhat astringent and bitter taste. The fresh herb on distillation yields a volatile oil which is sold as oil of fleabane.

The common name “blood stanch” indicates the use of this plant for arresting hemorrhages from various sources and the bleeding of wounds. It is useful also in diarrhea and dropsy.

=Price.=—The price paid for erigeron or flea bane ranges from 6 to 8 cents per pound.

JIMSON WEED. _Datura stramonium_ L.

=Other common names.=—Jamestown weed (from which “jimson” weed is derived), thorn-apple, stinkweed, stinkwort, devil’s apple, mad-apple, devil’s trumpet, fireweed, Jamestown lily, dewtry, apple of Peru. (Fig. 26).

=Range and habitat.=—Jimson weed is exceedingly common in fields and waste places throughout the entire country with the exception of the North and West. It is native in the Tropics and widely scattered in nearly all warm countries.

=Description.=—This well-known rank and ill-scented poisonous weed is an annual about 2 to 5 feet in height, and belongs to the potato family (Solanaceæ). Its yellowish-green stems are stout, leafy, and much forked. The leaves are large, 3 to 8 inches long, thin, smooth, pointed at the apex and usually narrowed at the base, irregularly waved and toothed, veiny, dark green on the upper surface and paler green beneath. The rather large, showy flowers are produced from May to September. They are white, funnel shaped, about 3 inches long, and have a heavy odor. The seed pod is a dry, oval, prickly capsule, which, when quite ripe, bursts open and discloses four valves, containing numerous black, kidney-shaped seeds. (Fig. 27.) The seeds are ill-smelling when fresh, as is the entire plant. They are dull black, about one-sixth of an inch long, flattened, wrinkled, and marked with small depressions.

=Parts used.=—Both the leaves and seeds are medicinal. The leaves are collected at the time of flowering, the entire plant being cut or pulled up and the leaves stripped and dried in the shade. The unpleasant narcotic odor diminishes upon drying. The leaves are poisonous, cause dilation of the pupil of the eye, and are used principally in asthma.

For the collection of the seeds the capsules should be taken from the plants when they are quite ripe, but still of a green color. The capsules should then be dried for a few days, when they will burst open and the seeds can be readily shaken out. These should now be carefully dried. The seeds like the leaves are poisonous and possess the same properties.

Occasional cases of poisoning of children occur from eating the seeds of jimson weed and taking the flowers in their mouths.

=Imports and prices.=—From 100,000 to 150,000 pounds of stramonium leaves (the name by which they are designated in the drug trade) are imported into this country annually, and about 10,000 pounds of seeds are imported.

The leaves will bring from 2½ to 8 cents per pound, and stramonium seeds from 3 to 7 cents per pound.

Purple thorn-apple.

The purple thorn-apple, technically known as _Datura tatula_, is very similar to the jimson weed, possesses the same properties, and is distinguished from it merely by its reddish stems and purplish flowers. The leaves and seeds may be gathered with those of the jimson weed.

POISON HEMLOCK. _Conium maculatum_ L.

=Other common names.=—Spotted parsley, St. Bennet’s herb, bad-man’s oatmeal, heck-how, wode whistle, cashes, bunk, poison parsley, spotted cowbane. (Fig. 28.)

=Range and habitat.=—Poison hemlock is rather common in waste places and along roadsides, principally in the Eastern and Middle States. It has been naturalized in this country from Europe.

=Description.=—From the close resemblance of the leaves of this plant to parsley, it is sometimes mistaken for the latter and fatal cases of poisoning have occurred. All parts of the plant are exceedingly poisonous.

Poison hemlock belongs to the same family as the parsley, namely, the Apiaceæ. It is a biennial, about 2 to 6 feet in height, with a smooth, hollow stem dotted with purple, and large leaves very much like those of parsley. The numerous small white flowers are borne in rather showy umbels (flat-topped clusters, with stems from one point) and appear in June and July. The fruit ripens in August and September. The fruit is grayish-green, ribbed, about one-eighth of an inch long, ovate, laterally flattened, and smooth.

The entire plant possesses a disagreeable mousy odor, which is especially noticeable when bruised.

=Parts used.=—The fruit and leaves are the parts used. The fruit should be collected while still green but full grown, which in most localities is some time in August. It should be dried in dark but well ventilated places, and then stored in tight cans or boxes where it will not be exposed to the action of light and air.

The poison hemlock leaves should be collected when the plant is in flower, which will be in the second year of its growth. The stems should be rejected. Contrary to the usual method of drying leaves and herbs, the poison hemlock leaves may be quickly dried in the sun and then kept in tightly closed vessels. The leaves will retain their green color if properly cured. The odor is still very disagreeable, but not so pronounced as in the fresh plant.

This very poisonous drug is used in rheumatism, neuralgia, asthma, and in cases where the nervous system is in an excited condition.

=Imports and prices.=—The imports of conium or poison hemlock seed amount to about 20,000 pounds annually, and from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of the leaves are imported. The price paid for the seed is about 3 cents per pound, and for the leaves about 4 cents.

AMERICAN WORMSEED. _Chenopodium ambrosioides_ L.

=Other common names.=—Mexican tea, Spanish tea, Jerusalem tea, Jesuit tea, ambrosia. (Fig. 29.)

=Range and habitat.=—This strong-scented herb, naturalized in this country from tropical America, frequents waste places around dwellings and is found in streets, meadows, pastures, and grain fields from New England to Florida, and westward to California.

=Description.=—American wormseed is an annual plant of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceæ), attaining a height of from 2 to 3 feet. The stem is grooved, usually much branched and leafy, the leaves oblong or oblong lance-shaped, somewhat acute at the apex, the lower ones 1 to 3 inches long and wavy-toothed, the numerous upper leaves much smaller and usually entire. From July to September the flowers are produced, followed throughout the autumn by the fruits, both of which are green and borne in crowded leafy spikes. The whole plant has a powerful, disagreeable odor, due to the essential oil which it contains.

=Part used.=—The entire leafy part of the plant is sometimes employed for the distillation of the oil, although the fruit alone is listed in the Pharmacopœia of the United States. The fruit is distilled for the oil, which it contains in large quantities.

The fruits are in the form of small grains, about the size of a pin head, globular but slightly flattened, greenish, and inclosing the small shining black seeds. They have the same powerful odor as the plant, which does not diminish when the fruit is dried, and the taste is bitter and pungent. American wormseed is an anthelmintic, that is, it has the property of expelling worms.

The fruits of _Chenopodium anthelminticum_, another species of wormseed, are collected with those of the species just described. This plant is very similar to the American wormseed, the fruits being alike, and the only differences being that in _Chenopodium anthelminticum_ the stem is slightly taller, from 2½ to 3½ feet high, the leaves are more coarsely toothed, the flowers are borne in more elongated, usually leafless spikes, the odor is more pronounced and disagreeable, and the range and distribution of the plant are more limited.

Wormseed is cultivated to a considerable extent in parts of Maryland, where the distillation of the plant for the oil is carried on.

=Price.=—In ordinary seasons the price paid for chenopodium or wormseed ranges from 6 to 8 cents per pound. The oil distilled from wormseed is at present selling at $1.50 per pound.

BLACK MUSTARD. _Brassica nigra_ (L.) Koch. (_Sinapis nigra_ L.)

=Other common names.=—Brown mustard, red mustard. (Fig. 30.)

=Range and habitat.=—Black mustard, introduced from Europe, is a troublesome weed in many parts of the United States. It is common in almost every State in the Union along roadsides, in cultivated ground, and in waste places, being especially troublesome in grain fields and pastures. Both black and white mustards are cultivated in California.

This plant is a great pest in southern California, covering thousands of acres and forming dense, impenetrable thickets over 6 feet in height, in which birds have their nesting places, and, by eating and excreting the seeds, help to spread this pernicious weed.

=Description.=—The rather stiff, dark-green, branching stem of black mustard is from 4 to 6 feet in height. The lower part of the stems and branches is more or less bristly hairy, but the upper part is usually smooth.

The leaves are dark green, somewhat rough, with bristly hairs, and are all borne on stalks. The lower leaves are lobed, the terminal lobe being the largest and the two or more lateral ones smaller. The leaves toward the top of the plant become lance shaped and are slightly toothed.

The flowers of black mustard appear from June to September, and are of a bright yellow color. They are rather small, scarcely a quarter of an inch in diameter, the four petals spreading and each consisting of a rounded blade with a narrow claw. The petals alternate with the pale-green sepals or calyx lobes. The flowers appear in clusters at the ends of the elongating stems, followed from July to November by the numerous erect pods crowded against the stem in dense narrow clusters. The pods are about 1 inch in length, quadrangular, smooth, and tipped at the apex by the short, persistent style. The seeds contained in the pods are very numerous, small, about one twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter, globular, blackish brown, and finely pitted.

The plant is an annual, and if care is taken to prevent the distribution of the seeds it is not difficult to exterminate. The seeds possess great vitality, and may remain in the ground for years before germinating.

=Collection of seeds.=—The tops may be pulled when most of the pods are nearly mature, but before they are ready to spring open. They should then be placed on a clean, dry floor or shelf, allowing the pods to ripen and dry out, when they will burst open and the seeds can be readily shaken out.

Mustard seed has no odor whatever when collected, not even when it is powdered in its dry state, but as soon as water is added in grinding it, the powerful, penetrating mustard odor is developed. The taste is sharp and pungent.

WHITE MUSTARD. _Sinapis alba_ L.

=Another common name.=—Yellow mustard. (Fig. 31.)

=Range and habitat.=—White mustard is a weed found in cultivated land along waysides and fence rows, but is not so abundant nor so widely distributed as the black mustard. It is naturalized in this country from Europe.

=Description.=—This plant is very similar to black mustard, but is smaller (growing only about 1 to 2 feet tall), bright green, but the flowers and seeds are much larger, and the rough-hairy pods with their long, sickle-shaped beaks are spreading instead of being pressed against the stem. The flowers are paler yellow than those of the fore-going species. The divisions of the leaves reach to the midrib, the leaves are rough-hairy, and the pods bristly. The seeds are pale yellow and smooth.

=Collection and uses of seeds.=—The seeds are to be collected in the same manner as those of black mustard. White mustard seed has no odor in its entire state, and when water is added in grinding it the odor does not become so pronounced as in the case of black mustard, neither is the taste so pungent.

In medicine mustard seeds are used principally in the preparation of plasters and poultices. They are used also in dyspepsia, and in large doses act as an emetic.

=Imports and prices.=—The imports into the United States of black and white mustard together during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1903, amounted to 5,302,876 pounds. The price ranges from 3 to 6 cents per pound for both the black and white mustard seeds.

FARMERS’ BULLETINS.

The following is a list of the Farmers’ Bulletins available for distribution, showing the number, title, and size in pages of each. Copies will be sent to any address on application to any Senator, Representative, or Delegate in Congress, or to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. The missing numbers have been discontinued, being superseded by later bulletins.