Part 29 (1/2)

Bloodroot was well known to the American Indians, who used the red juice as a dye for skins and baskets and for painting their faces and bodies. It is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia and is used as a tonic, alterative, stimulant and emetic.

Pinkroot.

Spigelia Marilandica L.

Pharmacopoeial Name--Spigelia.

Other Common Names--Carolina pinkroot, pinkroot, Carolina pink, Maryland pink, Indian pink, starbloom, wormgra.s.s, wormweed, American wormroot.

Habitat and Range--This pretty little plant is found in rich woods from New Jersey to Florida, west to Texas and Wisconsin, but occurring princ.i.p.ally in the Southern States. It is fast disappearing, however from its native haunts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pinkroot (Spigelia Marilandica).]

Description of Plant--Pinkroot belongs to the same family as the yellow jasmine, namely, the Logania family (Loganiaceae), noted for its poisonous species. It is a native perennial herb, with simple, erect stem 6 inches to 1 1/2 feet high, nearly smooth. The leaves are stemless, generally ovate, pointed at the apex and rounded or narrowed at the base; they are from 2 to 4 inches long, one-half to 2 inches wide, smooth on the upper surface, and only slightly hairy on the veins on the lower surface. The rather showy flowers are produced from May to July in a terminal one-sided spike; they are from 1 to 2 inches in length, somewhat tube shaped, narrowed below, slightly inflated toward the center, and again narrowed or contracted toward the top, terminating in five lance shaped lobes; the flowers are very showy, with their brilliant coloring--bright scarlet on the outside, and the inside of the tube, and the lobes a bright yellow. The seed capsule is double, consisting of two globular portions more or less united, and containing numerous seeds.

Description of Rootstock--The rootstock is rather small, from 1 to 2 inches in length and about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. It is somewhat crooked or bent, dark brown, with a roughened appearance of the upper surface caused by cup shaped scars, the remains of former annual stems. The lower surface and the sides have numerous long, finely branched, lighter colored roots, which are rather brittle. Pinkroot has a pleasant, aromatic odor, and the taste is described as sweetish, bitter and pungent.

Collection, Prices and Uses--Pinkroot is collected after the flowering period. It is said to be scarce, and was reported as becoming scarce as long ago as 1830. The price paid to collectors ranges from 25 to 40 cents a pound.

The roots of other plants, notably those of the East Tennessee pinkroot (Ruellia ciliosa Pursh), are often found mixed with the true Pinkroot, and the Ruellia ciliosa is even subst.i.tuted for it. This adulteration or subst.i.tution probably accounts for the inertness which has sometimes been attributed to the true Pinkroot and which has caused it to fall into more or less disuse. It has long been known that the true Pinkroot was adulterated, but this adulteration was supposed to be caused by the admixture of Carolina phlox (Phlox Carolina L., now known as Phlox ovata L.), but this is said now to be no part of the subst.i.tution.

The rootstock of Ruellia ciliosa is larger and not as dark as that of the Maryland pinkroot and has fewer and coa.r.s.er roots, from which the bark readily separates, leaving the whitish wood exposed.

Pinkroot was long known by the Indians, and its properties were made known to physicians by them. It is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia and is used princ.i.p.ally as an anthelmintic.

Indian-Physic.

Porteranthus Trifoliatus (L.) Britton.

Synonym--Gilenia Trifoliata Moench.

Other Common Names--Gilenia, bowman's-root, false ipecac, western dropwort, Indian-hippo.

Habitat and Range--Indian-Physic is native in rich woods from New York to Michigan, south to Georgia and Missouri.

Description of Plant--The reddish stems of this slender, graceful perennial of the rose family (Rosaceae) are about 2 to 3 feet high, several erect and branched stems being produced from the same root.

The leaves are almost stemless and trifoliate; that is, composed of three leaflets. They are ovate or lanceolate, 2 to 3 inches long, narrowed at the base, smooth and toothed. The nodding, white pinkish flowers are few, produced in loose terminal cl.u.s.ters from May to July. The five petals are long, narrowed or tapering toward the base, white or pinkish, and inserted in the tubular, somewhat bell shaped, red tinged calyx. The seed pods are slightly hairy.

At the base of the leaf stems are small leaflike parts, called stipules, which in this species are very small, linear and entire. In the following species, which is very similar to trifoliatus and collected with it, the stipules, however, are so much larger that they form a prominent character, which has given rise to its specific name, stipulatus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Indian Physic (Porteranthus Trifoliatus).]

Porteranthus stipulatus (Muhl.) Britton (Syn. Gillenia stipulacea Nutt.) is found in similar situations as P. trifoliatus, but generally farther west, its range extending from western New York to Indiana and Kansas, south to Alabama, Louisiana and Indian Territory.

The general appearance of this plant is very similar to that of P.

trifoliatus. It grows to about the same height, but is generally more hairy, the leaflets narrower and more deeply toothed, and the flowers perhaps a trifle smaller. The stipules, however, will generally serve to distinguish it. These are large, broad, ovate, acute at the apex, sharply and deeply notched and so much like leaves that but for their position at the base of the leaf stems they might easily be mistaken for them.

With the exception of the name American ipecac applied to this plant, the common names of Porteranthus trifoliatus are also used for P.