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MEDICINAL

PLANTS

of appalachia

AGRICULTURE HANDBOOK NO. 400

FOREST SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
S3 o

FOREWORD

THE MEDICINAL or therapeutic uses of the plants

described in this guide are not to be construed in any

way as a recommendation by the authors or the U.S.

Department of Agriculture. Some of the dried crude drugs,

which must be modified considerably before commercial

use, can be extremely poisonous when not used properly.

Readers are cautioned against using these plant drugs for

purposes of self-medication.

Besides descriptions of 126 medicinal plants of the

Appalachian region, this guide includes a glossary of the

terms used, a reference list of publications, and a listing of

additional source material.

This book was originally published as U.S.D.A. Forest Service

Research Paper NE-138, 1969, Northeastern Forest Experiment

Station, Upper Darby, Pa.

Issued March 1971
MEDICINAL PLANTS

off Appalachia

by

Arnold Krochmal

Russell S. Walters

Richard M. Doughty

USDA, National Agricultural übraiy

Beltsviile. MO 20705,2351 _d

Agriculture Handbook No. 400

FOREST SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.75
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

PLANT DESCRIPTIONS 3

Identification 3

Names ^

COLLECTING PLANTS ^

Time of year ^

Areas ^^

Tools 10

PROCESSING 11

Cleaning H

Drying ..•.••; ]\

Packaging and storing ^^

COLLECTING POLLEN 15

Methods 15

Drying 1^

Grass pollen 1 '

REFERENCES 18

GLOSSARY 21

GUIDE TO THE PLANTS 27

INDEX OF COMMON PLANT NAMES 281
INTRODUCTION

DESPITE INCREASES in the production ofsynthetic drugs,

natural plant drug materials are still economically significant in the United States, and large quantities are harvested in

the southern Appalachian region each year for medicinal

purposes. A 1962 survey of 328,599,000 new prescriptions

written in the U. S. showed that 25 percent were for drugs from

natural plant products.

However, during the past 30 to 50 years, fewer and fewer

people have been harvesting wild plants in Appalachia, which is

the principal American source, mainly because of families

emigrating to more prosperous areas. Between 1950 and 1960,

the southern Appalachian region lost through emigration more

than a million people, nearly a fifth of the population. Increases

in local blue-collar employment opportunities, a growing

reluctance to work in the fields and forests, scarcity of some

plants because of over-collecting, and land-use changes have also

reduced the natural plant harvests for drug materials.

To locate, collect, and prepare plants for market is timeconsuming work. Some collectors do not know all the useful

plant species and the best markets for them. This manual was

prepared to help collectors identify, collect, and handle plants,

plant parts, and pollen.

Not all the plants listed are marketable at aU times; so the

collector would do well to write to one of the collecting houses

listed (table 1) for prices and information about market

demand. Buyers of such material are helpful in providing other

useful information on collecting.
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PLANT DESCRIPTIONS

Identification

To help the collector identify plants, brief descriptions are

given in this guide. Some closely related plants, such as Lobelia

(Indian tobacco), are difficult to identify before the seed

capsules have developed; so as a further aid in identification,

sketches or photos accompany every plant description.

A collector who wants to identify a plant known only by a

common name should locate that name in the index and then

refer back to the descriptions and illustrations to identify the

plant. If the same common name is applied to more than one

plant, this will be shown by the page numbers next to the

common name in the index.

Names

Plant names can be confusing. A plant may have many

common names, and the same common name may be applied to

several unrelated plants. We have tried to show as many

common names as possible, listing first the preferred common

name suggested by the Subcommittee on Standardization of

Common and Botanical Names of Weeds. If this list did not

include names for a plant, we used Standardized Plant Names,

Other references used were Flora of West Virginia, Manual of

Cultivated Plants, Flora ofthe Northeastern United States, and

State experiment station bulletins.

Scientific names are also given to simphfy proper identification of plants. Although a number of common names may be

in use for a given plant, only one scientific name is used.
COLLECTING PLANTS

Time of Year

It is important to collect at the time of the year when the

drug contents of the plants are at their peak.

Roots are collected either very early in the spring before

growth has begun, or late in the fall. Herbs (the part of the

plant above ground) are usually collected during the bloomingfruiting period. Leaves are usually collected before blooming

begins and can either be removed from the plant in the field, or

the plants can be harvested and the leaves can be removed later

at a collection area. Seeds and fruits are best harvested when

ripe. Bark should be collected when it slips most easily, during

the dormant season or in early spring.

The parts of each plant collected are shown in table 2.
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Only four plants are listed from which sap is collected.

Lactuca scariola provides a milky juice; the plants are collected

in summer for extracting the juice from the stems. The other

three are trees. Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) exudes

balsam into natural pockets between the bark and the wood.

Excrescences on the bark are cut for collecting the sap. Tsuga

canadensis (hemlock) produces an exúdate of resin, which

occurs on the stem in reddish brown, opaque, or translucent

pieces. Pinus palustris (long-leaf pine) is a source ofturpentine,

pine oil, tar, pitch, and rosin.

Collectors are urged to leave enough plants growing in each

locality to conserve the plant population for future years.

Areas

The most likely areas where each plant may be found are

listed. Time and effort can be saved by narrowing areas of

search to those habitats where the plant usually occurs.

Residents of a region can often provide information about

growing areas. Care should be taken to respect property rights

of landowners, and permission should be obtained before

entering private land. State and Federal laws regarding plant

collecting should be checked for given localities.

Tools

A wide range of tools—from a pocket knife to shovels of one

type or another (fig. 1)—can be used by the collector,

depending on what plant parts are to be harvested. For

example, a shovel or an asparagus knife would be needed to

harvest roots—plus a pair of shears to cut the tops. Bark

collectors need a sharp knife, the size depending on the

thickness of the material to be harvested.

As the collector gains experience, he will be able to

determine exactly what tools are required for each kind of

material. However, he will always want to carry the minimum

number needed. All tools should, of course, be kept oiled and

sharp; and they should be cleaned after each use.

10
Figure 1 .—Harvesting implements: (1) hedge clippers,

(2) sheath knife, (3) pruning shears, (4) trowel, (5) asparagus digger, (6) pick, and (7) shovel.

PROCESSING

Cleaning

Cleaning harvested plant materials is called garbling. It

includes removal of stones, soil, and unwanted plants and plant

parts. Roots and underground parts may have to be washed if

soil clings to them.

Drying

Rapid drying is needed to preserve green color, to reduce

spoilage and molding, to reduce or stop enzyme action that

destroys drug constituents of plants, and to make the materials

more compact for shipping. This is important because improper

drying can result in reduced value, if not complete loss of the

material collected.

11
Two methods are used to dry drug plants. The natural

method is the simpler; it makes use of natural air temperature

and air movement. The second method uses artificially heated

and circulated air. Many different types of equipment are used.

These range from simple and inexpensive tools for handling

small quantities of a few kinds of plants to the large costly

equipment needed for handling many kinds of plants in large

lots.

Natural i/rj/mg.—Natural drying uses the sun's heat plus shade

and air movement. A porch or barn floor or almost any shaded

area with a dry floor will do. Shallow wdre-bottomed trays are

cheap to make and can be used to good advantage (fig. 2). Too

much exposure to the sun can cause loss of green color, thus

decreasing the value and marketability of certain materials.

Figure 2.—Shallow wirebottomed trays can be

used for natural drying.

Artificial drying.—A. simple and inexpensive drying box can

be built for less than $25, using a standard home-type,

fan-driven space heater (fig. 3). This box takes up less floor

space than the natural drying method, dries plants more

12
quickly, and produces a more uniform product. Racks (fig. 4)

provide space for drying all types of plant materials.

Figure 3.—A drying box, showing heating unit and duct;

top shows sliding door used for air circulation.

Processing before drying.—Roots are usually sliced lengthwise

or crosswise to hasten drying and to minimize spoilage and

molding. (Ginseng roots are not sliced because their shape is

important in meeting market demands.) Fleshy fruits, which are

particularly apt to spou, should be cut in halves or quarters and

dried in a drying box. Bark can be cut into uniform pieces to

hasten drying. Seeds should be spread in a fairly thin layer in

aluminum or cardboard pie plates or similar available containers.

13
¿:;^'ii-¿AAíAí*:afe

Figure 4.—Interior of an artificial drying box, showing

drying racks.

Packaging and Storing

Clean burlap sacks, boxes, and paper sacks are all usable for

packing dried plant material. Boxes should be dry and lined

with clean paper. Collectors should avoid using plastic bags

because any excess moisture present when the bags are shut

may result in molding.

Plant material should be stored under sanitary conditions

that minimize rodent and insect contamination. Clean, dry,

ventilated storage areas are best for preserving quality, (fig. 5).

14
Figure 5.-A buyer of medicinal plants inspects a drying

spikenard root.

COLLECTING POLLEN

Pollen is used by drug companies for making preparations to

test for pollen allergies. Among the pollens most in demand are

ragweeds, sages, magwort, sagebrush, elm, box elder, maple, ash,

oak, cocklebur, pigweed, and Russian thistle.

Different kinds of pollen should not be mixed together

because pollen buyers inspect shipments with a microscope, and

any impure materials are rejected. Pollen should not be

collected from plants that have been treated with pesticides.

Methods

The day before pollen is to be collected, tie several blooming

heads together with white string to mark the plants wanted and

to reduce loss from wind (fig. 6).

413-947 O - 71

15
Pollen can be harvested from a plant for several days, but

when the pollen begins to turn dark another plant should be

used.

Harvesting can begin on clear mornings, as soon as the dew is

gone; and, depending on the wind, harvesting can continue for

about 2 hours. However, if the day is still, harvesting can

continue longer.

Figure 6.—One way to

collect pollen: roll the

heads of the flowers gently

over a catching cloth,

spreading the blooms with

your fingers to release the

pollen.

Drying

Immediately after a day's harvesting is finished, the pollen

should be spread out on clean, dry, brovwi wrapping paper (an

opened grocery bag will do) in a warm, draft-free room. The

pollen should be spread to a depth of about 1/4 inch and left to

air-dry for 4 days. Mold may occur on the pollen if it is dried

less than 4 days, and moldy pollen will not be accepted by

buyers.

When dry, the pollen should be strained through fresh nylon

or organdy, and packed in clean, dry, screw-top jars or in clean,

dry, strong plastic bags.

16
Grass Pollen

Because pollen from grasses such as timothy, Johnson and

others is difficult to collect in the field, a special harvesting

technique has been worked out. As they mature heads of plants

are harvested in the field and brought to a shed or protected

areas. The stems are placed in a container of water and the

pollen is collected on sheets of paper (fig. 7) placed next to the

container. The pollen is then cleaned through nylon or organdy

and packed for shipment.

WT"

Figure 7.-Grass pollen is

collected on sheets of paper after mature heads of

plants have been harvested.

17
REFERENCES

Bailey, L. H.

1951. MANUAL OF CULTIVATED

PLANTS. Revised ed., 1116 pp., illus.

Macmillan Co., New York.

Burn, Harold.

1962. DRUGS, MEDICINE AND MAN.

248 pp. Charles Scribner's Sons, New

York.

Claus, Edward P., and Varro E. Tyler, Jr.

1965. PHARMACOGNOSY. Ed. 5, 572

pp., illus. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia.

CoUingwood, G. H., and

Warren D. Brush.

1937. KNOWING YOUR TREES. 109 pp.

Amer. Forestry Assoc, Washington,

D. C.

Coon, Nelson.

1963. USING PLANTS FOR HEALING.

272 pp. Heartside Press, Inc., New

York.

Curtin, L. S. M.

1947. HEALING HERBS OF THE UPPER

RIO GRANDE. 281 pp., illus. Lab.

Anthrop., Santa Fe, N. M.

Darlington, William.

1859. AMERICAN WEEDS AND USEFUL

PLANTS. 460 pp., illus. A. O. Moore

& Co., New York.

Edwards, Bertie.

[n.d.] METHODS OF COLLECTING, DRYING, CLEANING, AND SELLING POLLEN.

Bull. 1. Lenoir, N. C

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon, and

Alfred Charles Kinsey.

1943. EDIBLE WILD PLANTS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 452 pp., illus.

Cornwall Press. New York.

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon.

1950. GRAY'S MANUAL OF BOTANY.

Ed. 8, 1632 pp., illus. American Book

Co., New York.

Ford, Thomas R.

1962. THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN

REGION. 308 pp. Univ. Ky. Press, Lexington, Ky.

Powells, H. A.

1965. SiLVics OF FOREST TREES OF

THE UNITED STATES. U. S. Dep. Agr.

Agr. Handb. 271, 762 pp., illus.

Gibbons, Euell.

1966. STALKING THE HEALTHFUL

HERBS. 303 pp., illus. David McKay

Co., New York.

Gleason, Henry A.

1952. THE NEW BRITTON AND BROWN

ILLUSTRATED FLORA OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND ADJACENT CANADA. 1733 pp., ilhis. (3

vols.) N. Y. Botanical Garden, New

York.

Gosselin, Raymond.

1962. THE STATUS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS IN THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET. Lloydia 24(4) :24l243.

Greer Drug and Chemical Corporation,

[n.d.] INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING

AND DRYING SHORT RAGWEED POLLEN.

13 pp. Lenoir, N. C.

Grieve, M.

1959. A MODERN HERBAL, 888 pp.,

illus. (2 vols.) Hafner Publ. Co., New

York.

Hardin, James W.

1961. POISONOUS PLANTS OF NORTH

CAROLINA. N. C State Coll. Agr. Exp.

Sta. Bull. 414, 128 pp.

Hardin, James W.

1964. NORTH CAROLINA DRUG PLANTS

OF COMMERCIAL VALUE. N. C. State

Coll. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 418, 34 pp.

Harding, A. R.

1936. GINSENG AND OTHER MEDICINAL PLANTS. 367 pp., illus. A. R.

Harding Publ., Ohio.

Hocking, George.

1955. A DICTIONARY OF TERMS OF

PHARMACOGNOSY AND OTHER DIVISIONS OF ECONOMIC BOTANY. 484 pp.

Charles C. Thomas Publ., Bannerstone

House, 111.

Imbesi, A.

1964. INDEX PLANTARUM QUET IN

OMNIUM POPULORUM PHARMACOPOEis SUNT. 771 pp. Adhuc Receptae,

Messina, Sicily, Italy.

Jacobs, Marion Lee, and

Henry M. Burlage.

1958. INDEX OF PLANTS OF NORTH

CAROLINA WITH REPUTED MEDICINAL

USES. 322 pp. Chapel Hill, N. C.

Jaques, H. E.

1959. How TO KNOW THE WEEDS.

230 pp., illus. Wm. C. Brown Co.,

Dubuque, Iowa.

Kelsey, Harlen P., and

William A. Dayton.

1942. STANDARDIZED PLANT NAMES.

Ed. 2, 675 pp. J. Horace McFarland

Co., Harrisburg, Pa.

Kingsbury, John M.

1964. POISONOUS PLANTS OF THE

UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 626 pp.

Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs,

N. J.

Kreig, Margaret.

1964. GREEN MEDICINE. 462 pp., illus.

Rand McNally & Co., Chicago.

Krochmal, Arnold.

1968. MEDICINAL PLANTS IN APPALACHIA. Econ. Bot. 22(4):332-337.
Little, Elbert L., Jr.

1953. CHECK LIST OF NATIVE AND

NATURALIZED TREES OF THE UNITED

STATES (INCLUDING ALASKA). U. S.

Dep. Agr. Agr. Handb. 41, 472 pp.

Massey, A. B.

1942. MEDICINAL PLANTS. Va. Polytech. Inst. Bull. 30, 52 pp,. illus.

Meyer, James F.

I960. THE HERBALIST. 304 pp., illus.

Rand McNally & Co., New York.

Miller, James F.

[n.d.} WEED IDENTIFICATION. 97 pp.,

illus. Univ. Ga. Coop. Ext. Serv.

Osol, Arthur, and George Farrar.

1950. THE DISPENSATORY OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Ed. 24,

2155 pp. (2 vols.) J. P. Lippincott

Co., Philadelphia.

Osol, Arthur, Robertson Pratt, and

Mark D. Altschule.

1967. THE UNITED STATES DISPENSATORY. Ed. 26, 1277 pp. J. P. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia.

Quer, P. Font.

1962. PLANTAS MEDICINALES. 1033

pp., illus. Editorial Labor, S. A., Barcelona, Spain.

Radford, A. W., H. E. Ahles, and

C. R. Bell.

1964. GUIDE TO THE VASCULAR FLORA

OF THE CAROLINAS. 383 pp. Univ.

N. C. Bot. Dept, Raleigh.

Sargent, C. R.

1965. MANUAL OF THE TREES OF

NORTH AMERICA. 1367 pp., illus. (2

vols.) Dover Publ., New York.

Shelton, Ferne.

1965. PIONEER COMFORTS AND KITCHEN REMEDIES. 24 pp. Hutcraft, High

Point, N. C.

Steinmetz, E. F.

1957. CODES VEGETABILIS. 149 pp.

Steinmetz Publ., Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Steinmetz, E. F.

1959. DRUG GUIDE 1959. 382 pp.

Steinmetz Publ., Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Strausbaugh, P. D., and Earl L. Core.

1952. FLORA OF WEST VIRGINIA (Part

I). W. Va. Univ. Bull. 52(12): 1-273,

illus.

Strausbaugh, P. D., and Earl L. Core.

1953. FLORA OF WEST VIRGINIA (Part

II). W. Va. Univ. Bull. 53 (12) :275-

570, illus.

Strausliaugh, P. D., and Earl L. Core.

1958. FLORA OF WEST VIRGINIA (Part

III). W. Va. Univ. Bull. 58 (12) :571-

860, illus.

Strausbaugh, P. D., and Earl L. Core.

1964. FLORA OF WEST VIRGINIA (Part

IV). W. Va. Univ. Bull. 65 (3):861-

1075, illus.

Strausbaugh, P. D., and Earl L. Core.

1964. FLORA OF WEST VIRGINIA (Introductory Section). W. Va. Univ.

Bull. 65 (3):i-xxxi.

Subcommittee on Standardization of

Common and Botanical Names of Weeds.

1966. WEEDS. 14 (4):347-386.

Tehon, Leo R.

1951. THE DRUG PLANTS OF ILLINOIS.

111. Nat. Hist., Surv. Cir. 44, 135 pp.,

illus.

Todd, R. G. (ed.).

1967. EXTRA PHARMACOPEIA. 1804

pp. Pharmaceutical Press. London.

Williams, Louis O.

I960. DRUG AND CONDIMENT PLANTS.

U. S. Dep. Agr. Agr. Handb. 172, 37

pp., illus.

Useful Seríais

Acta Phytotherapeutica.

1954-68. E. F. Steinmetz, Publ., Amsterdam.

American Journal of Pharmacy.

1825-68. Phila. Coll. Pharm. & Sei.,

Philadelphia.

American Perfume and Essential Oil

Review.

1906-68. New York.

Bibliography of Forest and Forestry

Products.

1948-68. Food and Agr. Organ.,

United Nations, Rome.

Biología (monthly supl. to Chronica

Botánica).

1947-68. Waltham, Mass.

Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information.

1896-1954. Roy. Bot. Gard., Kew,

London.

Bulletin of the Lloyd Library and

Museum of Botany, Pharmacy, and

Materia Medica.

1934-68. Cincinnati.

Chemurgic Digest.

1942-68. Nat. Farm Chemurgic Council. New York.

Digest of Comments on the Pharmacopoeia of the United States and on the

National Formulary.

1905-22. U. S. Public Health Serv.

Hygienic Lab. Bull., Washington, D.C.

19
Drug and Cosmetic Industry. Farmacognosia.

1914-68. Pittsburgh, Mass., and New 1938-68. Instituto Jose Celestino

York. Mutis, de Farmacognosia, Madrid.

Pj TnniV« Fitotherapia.

lisiS New York. Í929-68. Inverni & Delia Beffa S.p.a.,

^ ^ 1 ^T Milan.

Drug Trade News. Lloydia.

1925-68. New York. 1937-68. Lloyd Library, Cincinnati.

Drug Treatises. Qualitas Plantarum et Materiae

1904-11. Lloyd Bros., Inc., Cincinnati. Vegetabiles.

^ . ^ , 1953-68. W. Junk, publ.. The Hague.

'"Î9r68.\°rGard.. New York. Q-'^^'^V J ' »f Crude Drug

Excerpta Botánica Sectio A. 1961-68. E. F. Steinmetz, publ., Ams1959-68. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart. terdam.

20
GLOSSARY

Botanical and Pharmacological Terms

Acute. Sharp-pointed.

Ague. Old word for fever, usually malaria.

Allergenic. Produces allergy.

Alterative. Changes a condition gradually.

Ament. Catkin.

Annual. A plant that completes its development from germination of the

seed through flowering and death in one growing season.

Anodyne. Relieves or quiets pain.

Antacid. Neutralizes excess acidity in the alimentary canal.

Anthelmintic. Capable of expelling or destroying intestinal worms.

Antiasthmatic. Relaxes bronchial muscles and relieves labored breathing.

Antidiarrheal. Counteracts diarrhea.

Antidote. Counteracts the action of a poison.

Antiemetic. Lessens the tendency to vomit.

Anti-infective. Prevents or inhibits infection.

Anti-inflammatory. Reduces inflammation and swelling.

Antinauseant. Stops or lessens the tendency to become nauseated.

Antipruritic. Prevents or relieves itching (antipsoriatic).

Antipyretic. Reduces fever.

Antirheumatic. Reduces pain in the joints.

Antiseptic. Checks or inhibits the growth of microorganisms.

Antispasmodic. Reduces spasm or prevents convulsion.

Antitussive. Relieves or prevents coughing.

Aquatic. Growing in water.

Aromatic. Agreeable, usually spicy, odor.

Astringent. Causes the contraction of tissue.

Axil. Angle between stem and leaf stalk.

Axis. Main line of growth.

Balsam. An aromatic substance produced in certain plants.

Basal. Occurring at the bottom.

Biennial. A plant that requires 2 growing seasons to complete its

development from germination of the seed through flowering and

death.

Bract. Modified leaf, often below a flower petal.

Branchlet. A small branch growing from a large branch or tree trunk.

Bristly. Having short, stiff hairs.

Bur. Prickly seed envelope such as that of burdock {Arctium).

Buttressed. With projecting parts, usually refers to trunk of trees such as

Cypress.

Capsule. A closed container bearing seeds; also a dry fruit with more than

one part.

Carcinogenic. Causing cancer.

Cardio. Referring to heart action.

Carminative. Used to relieve gas and colic.

Catarrhal. Related to inflammation of the respiratory tract.

Cathartic. Causes an evacuation of the bowel.

Catkin. A scaly, drooping spike of flowers, such as that of willow.

21
Caustic. Destroys tissue.

Central nervous depressant. Depresses central nervous system activity.

Central nervous stimulant. Increases central nervous system activity.

Cholagogue. Increases the flow of bile.

Clasping. Partly or wholly surrounding the stem.

Cleft. With a space or division in the middle.

Clover-like. With leaves in three parts.

Cluster. A number of similar flowers or fruits growing closely together.

Composite. Refers to a structure apparently simple but made up of several

distinct parts.

Compound. Two or more similar parts of a plant, especially fruits or

leaves, united together into one whole.

Constituent. A component.

Corm. An enlarged solid bulb-like stem, usually underground.

Corolla. Usually petals.

Corona. An appendage borne between corolla and stamens in some

flowers.

Corrective. Used to correct or make more pleasant the action of other

remedies, especially purgatives. (Now called flavoring.)

Counterirritant. Causes irritation of the surface of an area with the object

of relieving a deep-seated congestion.

Creeping. Spreading over the ground or other surface.

Cumarin. A toxic white crystalline lac tone found in many plants; used to

make perfume and soap.

Cylindrical. Having the form of a cylinder.

Cyme. Broad, flat flower cluster.

Cytotoxic. Poisonous to ceUs.

Demulcent. Substance used to protect or soothe the mucous membrane.

Dental obtundant. Used to dull or soothe acute toothache.

Depurative. Removes impuritk^ and waste materials and purifies the

blood.

Detachable. Removable.

Diaphoretic. Used to increase perspfe^on.

Digestant. Aids in the digestion of foods.

Disinfectant. Destroys or inhibits the growth of harmful microorganisms.

Diuretic. Increases the volume of urine.

Dormant. Resting or non-vegetative stage, usually during winter.

Downy. Covered with soft hairs.

Drab. Dull brown, or ^ay.

Drupe. Fleshy seeded fruit with one seed enclosed in a stony cover; peach,

apricot.

Dyspepsia. A disturbed digestive condition characterized by nausea, gas,

and heartburn.

Ellipsoid. Solid with elliptical outUne.

Elliptical. Shaped like an elongated circle.

Elongate. Stretched out.

Emetic. An agent that causes vomiting.

Emmenagogue. An agent that induces menstrual flow.

Emmolient. Used externally to soften the skin and protect it.

Enzyme. Organic substance causing chemical changes without undergoing

any chance of its own.

Excrescence. An outgrowth or enlargement.

22
Expectorant. An agent that causes expulsion of mucous from respiratory

tract.

Exúdate. Discharge in layers or flakes.

Febrifuge. Reduces fever (antipyretic).

Flatulence. Stomach discomfort caused by gas.

Frond. Leaf of fern or palm.

Fungicide. An agent that destroys fungi.

Furrowed. Wrinkled, corrugated, grooved.

Garbling. Process of sorting out and cleaning the usable parts of plants.

Genera. Groups of related plants.

Habitat. Particular location w^here plant usually grows.

Hemostatic. An agent used to stop interna^ hemmorrhage.

Herbaceous. Dying down annually at onset of winter.

Herb. Leafy upper portion of plant, minus roots.

Humus. Organic portion of the soil, usually dark colored.

Husk. Outer covering of seed or fruits.

Hypnotic. An agent that induces sleep without delirium.

Incision. A sharp, narrow notch or separation, as in the margin of a leaf.

Insecticide. An agent that kills insects.

Intoxicant. An agent that produces mental confusion with subsequent loss

of muscular control.

Irritant. Causes inflammation of, or stimulation to, the tissues.

Lanceolate. Much longer than broad; lance-shaped.

Lateral. Occurring on a side.

Laxative. A cathartic that causes a more or less normal evacuation of the

bowel without griping or irritation.

Leaflet. Part of a compound leaf.

Leafstalk. Stem of a leaf.

Linear. Going in a straight line.

Lobe. Rounded part or segment of an organ, usually part of a leaf or

petal.

Mucilaginous. Slimy.

Narcotic. An agent that relieves distress and induces sleep.

Nodding. Drooping.

Node. The often swollen point on a stem at which a leaf is joined.

Oblanceolate. Having the broadest part of a lanceolate body above the

middle.

Oblong. Longer than broad.

Opposite. Situated in pairs on an axis, each being separated from the

other by half the circumference of the axis.

Opthalmiatric. Used in the treatment of eye diseases.

Ovate. Resembling hen eggs split lengthwise.

Palmate. Resembling a hand with fingers spread.

Panicle. Loosely branched flower cluster, pyramidal shaped.

Parasiticide. An agent that destroys animal or vegetable parasites.

Pectoral. Usually an expectorant, used for diseases of the chest and lungs.

Perennial. Continuing or lasting for several years.

Petal. Usually colored part of a flower.

Petiole. Leafstalk.

Pod. A dry seed vessel or fruit.

Pollen. Shed by male flowers, usually yellow dust; male reproductive

agent.

23
Protective. Used locally to protect and soothe the skin and mucous

membranes.

Pungent. A sharp sensation as to taste, smell, feeling.

Purgative. Increases peristalsis (contraction of the bowel).

Pustulant. Causes severe irritation of the skin, especially the sweat glands,

and results in pustule formation.

Raceme. An elongated axis bearing flowers on short stalks.

Reclining. Bent down.

Refrigerant. Allays thirst and gives a sensation of coolness to the body.

Resinous. Characteristic of resin, a solid to semi-solid yellowish brown

plant substance.

Respiratory sedative. Used to allay coughs.

Respiratory stimulant. Stimulates the respiratory centers.

Rhizome. Underground stem.

Rhombic. Having the form of an equilateral parallelogram.

Rootstock. Rhizome.

Rosette. Leaves orginating from a center point, or short intermode, often

close to the ground.

Ross. To remove coarse outer bark.

Rubifacient. Causes reddening and mild irritation of the skin.

Saprophyte. A plant living on dead or decaying plant material.

Scale. Small leaves or bracts.

Sedative. Used to quiet the individual.

Serrate. Saw-toothed margin of a leaf.

Sessile. Lacking a stalk, hence directly attached to a main stem or branch.

Sheath. A long or tubular structure surrounding a stem.

Sialagogue. Causes an increase in the flow of saUva.

Simple leaf. A leaf that is not divided into leaflets even though lobed.

Solitary. Borne alone.

Somnifacient. Produces sleep without delirium; a soporific.

Soporific. Tending to cause sleep.

Spike. Usually an axis bearing flowers without stalks.

Spiny. Bearing sharp-pointed prickles or woody bodies.

Stalk. Stem on which a leaf, flower, or other organ is attached.

Stimulant (cerebral). An agent that stimulates the activity of the

cerebellum, especially the centers of reason, thought, etc.

Stimulant (general). A substance which increases general functional

activity.

Stomachic. Stimulates appetite and increases secretion of digestive juices.

Strict. Straight and upright; few if any branches.

Subtend. Below and close to, such as a bract below a petal.

Sudorific. Increases perspiration.

Taeniafuge. A tapeworm expellant.

Taenicide. As agent that destroys tapeworms.

Taproot. A main root growing down, with small lateral roots.

Terminal. At the tip.

Tonic. Stimulates the restoration of tone to the muscles.

Toothed. Indented.

Trifoliate. Having three leaflets.

Tubular. Tube-shaped; hollow cylinder.

Tufted. Having small bunches of hair close together.

Twining. Twisting and winding.

24
Umbel. A flat-topped cluster of flowers arising from a common point.

Urinary antiseptic. Retards the growth of microorganisms in the urinary

tract.

Vasoconstrictor. Narrows the passageway of the blood vessel.

Vermicide. An agent that destroys worms.

Vesicant. Causes irritation to the skin, resulting in blisters.

Viscous. Sticky and thick.

Vulnerary. An agent that promotes heaUng of open wounds.

Whorl. Three or more flowers or leaves at a node forming a circle.

Winged. Having wings, such as the thin dry extensions on a maple seed.

Meanings of Terms

Used in Plant Names

Acutiloba. Having sharp lobes.

Alba. White.

Albidum. Whitish.

Ambrosioides. Fragrant, like ambrosia.

Americanus. American.

Androsaemifolium. Having leaves like those of Androsaemum.

Aparine. Bedstraw.

Arborescens. Tree-like.

Atropurpúrea. Very dark purple.

Aureus. Gold.

Balsamifera. Producing balsam.

Benedictus. Blessed.

Benzoin. A plant of the laurel family.

Biflorum. Having two flowers.

Calamus. Reed.

Canadense. Of Canada.

Capülus veneris. Hair-like.

Cardiaca. Heart-like.

Carolinense. Of Carolina.

Cataria. Catnip.

Cerifera. Wax-producing.

Cinérea. Grayish.

Clava-Herculis. Hercules club.

Communis. In groups.

Cordifolia. Heart-shaped.

Crispus. Waved and twisted.

Didyma. In pairs.

Diphylla. Two-leaved.

Erectum. Erect.

Farinosa. Covered with whitish mealy powder.

Frondosa. Full of leaves.

Glabra. Smooth.

Hastata. Triangular halberd-shaped lobes.

Hippocastanum. Horse-chestnut.

Hybridus. Mixed or impure.

Hydropiper. Water pepper.

Hyemale. Of the winter evergreen.

25
Incarnata. Flesh-colored.

Inflata. Expanded.

Lappa. Bur-like.

Lateriflora. Having flowers on the side.

Lenta. Pliant, tough.

Luteum. Yellow.

Maculata. Spotted.

Marilandica. Of Maryland.

Medica. Middle.

Millefolium. Very many leaved.

Minus. Lesser or smaller.

Nigra. Black.

Nudicaulis. Naked-stemmed.

Nudum. Bare.

Odoratissima. Very fragrant.

Officinale. Used medically.

Palustris. Of swamps.

Parviflorum. Small-flowered.

Pedatum. Like a bird's foot.

Peltatum. Shield-shaped.

Peregrina. Traveling from a strange country.

Perfoliatum. Having pierced leaves.

Piperita. Peppery.

Pratense. Of meadows.

Procumbens. Flat, prostrate.

Prunifolium. Plum-like leaves.

Pulegioides. Like Pennyroyal.

Quinquefolium. Five-leaved.

Racemosa. Full of clusters.

Repens. Creeping.

Rubra. Red.

Scariola. Papery, scaly.

Sempervirens. Evergreen.

Serotina. Late-flowering.

Serpentaria.* Snake bite cure.

Serrulata. Finely serrated.

Simplicissima. Undivided.

Spicata. Bearing a spike.

Stramonium. Swelling.

Strobus. Overlapping scales; cone.

Sylvatica. Of the forest, wild.

Styraciflua. Flowering gum.

Syriaca. Of Syria.

Thalictroides. Like meadow rue.

Thapsus. Of ancient Thapsus.

Tinctoria. Of dyes.

Triphyllum. Three-leaved.

Tuberosa. Having tubers.

Umbellata. Having flowers arranged in umbels.

Villosa. Shaggy, hairy.

Viride. Green.

Vulgäre. Common.

26
GUIDE TO THE PLANTS

In the following pages you will find descriptions and

illustrations-either drawings or photographs-of 126 medicinal

plants that grow in the Appalachian region. Here you will find

the names of the plants, a description that will help you

identify the plant, information about when the plant flowers,

where to look for it, what part to harvest, and what it has been

used for.

27
ACER SPICATUM LAM.

(ACERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Mountain maple, goosefoot maple, low

maple, mountain maple bush, spiked maple.

DESCRIPTION:* A tall shrub or small tree that grows to 30

feet in height. Bark is drab-colored, flaky, or furrowed.

Young branchlets are downy near tips. Leaves are thin,

downy beneath, 3-lobed or sometimes 5-lobed, with coarsetoothed margins. Flowers are small, greenish-yellow, and

generally in upright narrow spikes 3 to SVi inches long. Fruit,

which is red or yellow, matures from July through October;

it is about % inch long at maturity.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Late May to early October.

HABITAT: Cool woods.

HARVEST: Bark.

USES: The bark of this plant is used as an anthelmintic, tonic,

and opthalmiatric. In Colonial times the bark was used for a

rose-tan dye.

*See glossary (page 21) for definitions of terms used to describe the plants and

their uses.

28
ACER SPICATUM LAM.

(ACERACEAE)

29
ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common yarrow, bloodwort, carpenter's

grass, dog daisy, gordoloba, green arrow, milfoil, nosebleed,

old man's pepper, sanguinary, soldier's woundwort, thousand-leaf, thousand-leaved clover, thousand-seal, yarrow.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 to 3 feet in

height. Foliage is finely cut. Leaves are aromatic, and have

simple stems without stalks. Flowers are flattish and mostly

white, passing to shades of deep rose-purple, clustered

densely and flatly on top.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to October.

HABITAT: Abundant in pastures, old fields, roadsides, and

waste places.

HARVEST: Herb and leaves in August when in flower.

USES: The herb is an aromatic with diaphoretic and emmenagogue activity; it has been used as a vulnerary.

30
ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM L.

(ASTERACEAE)

413-947 O - 71 - 3

31
ACORUS CALAMUS L.

(ARACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sweet flag, beewort, bitter pepper root,

calamus, drug sweetflag, flagroot. Myrtle flag, pine root, reed

acorus, sweet cane, sweet cinnamon, sweet flagroot, sweet

grass, sweet Myrtle, sweetroot, sweet rush, sweet sedge, sweet

segg.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial. Leaves are long, narrow, and

sharp-edged, and have a distinct fragrance. Flower stalk,

which is 2 or 3 inches long and club-like, appears halfway up

the leaf. Stalk is covered with tiny crowded greenish-yellow

flowers. Plant has creeping rhizome.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Swamps and edges of streams, marshes, and pond

margins.

HARVEST: Rhizomes in early spring, or root in August.

USES: Plant has many uses, ranging from a flavoring agent and

insecticide to tonic. In Appalachia, the root is chewed to

clear the throat and to cure stomach gas; and the powdered

or ground plant is used in sachets.

32
ACORUS CALAMUS L.

(ARACEAE)

33
ADIANTUM CAPILLUS'VENERIS L.

(POLYPODIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Southern maidenhair, black maiden's hair

fern, lady's hair, maidenhair, venus' hair fern.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial fern with fronds, or stems of

small leaflets, arranged alternately along a continuous stem.

The pale green leaflets are fan-shaped with blunt lobes on

outer curved edge. Stems are deep red-brown to shiny black.

Rhizomes are creeping.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Non-flowering plant.

HABITAT: Moist, shaded, and limy rocks or steep banks;

humus-rich woods.

HARVEST: Roots and leaves.

USES: According to existing sources, this plant has been used

for an expectorant, tonic, and astringent. In Europe a tea of

the herb is used to treat coughs, catarrh, and respiratory

infections as well as menstrual discomfort.

34
ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENERIS L.

(POLYPODIACEAE)

35
ADÍANTUM PEDATUM L.

(POLYPODIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American maidenhair, hair fern, maidenhair, maidenhair fern, rock fern, sweet fern.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial fern with fronds, or stems of

small leaflets arranged alternately along a continuous stem.

The pale green leaflets are fan-shaped with blunt lobes on

outer curved edge. Stems are deep red-brown to shiny black.

Rhizomes are creeping.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Non-flowering plant.

HABITAT: Moist, shaded, and limy rocks or steep banks;

humus-rich woods.

HARVEST: Leaves.

USES: This herb is used as a refrigerant, expectorant, and

tonic. A tea of this herb is used to treat coughs, nasal

congestion or catarrh, and hoarseness.

36
ADIANTUM PEDATUM L.

(POLYPODIACEAE)

37
AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM L.

(HIPPOCASTANACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common horsechestnut, buckeye tree,

horsechestnut.

DESCRIPTION: A large tree that grows to 100 feet in height.

Buds are large and sticky, nearly black. Leaves have 5 to 7

pointed leaflets 4 to 8 inches long and broader at top than at

base. Flowers have large spreading white petals with red

markings at base; the flowers occur in showy clusters up to 1

foot long. The fruit is round and prickly and contains a

round shiny brown nut 2 inches long.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Cultivated areas and some wooded areas.

HARVEST: Bark and fruit in the fall.

USES: The bark is reported to have value as a tonic and

febrifuge. Traditionally, people of Appalachia have carried a

nut to prevent rheumatism. In Europe, an alcohol extract of

the nut was used to treat hemorrhoids and is considered a

vasa-constrictor.

38
AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM L.

(HIPPOCASTANACEAE)

39
ALETRIS FARINOSA L.

(LILIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Whitetube stargrass, ague grass, ague horn,

agueroot, aletris root, aloe, aloeroot, backache root, blazing

star, colicroot, crow corn, devil's bit, false unicorn root,

huskwood, huskwort, mealy starwort, rheumatism root,

stargrass, starwort, true unicorn root, unicorn's horns, unicorn plant, unicorn root, white colicroot.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial with wide, grass-like leaves spreading in a flat rosette around the base of a spike-like stem.

White to yellow tubular flowers are arranged along the stem.

Flowers have 6 lobes. Plant has a short thick root or rhizome.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Moist locations in woods and meadows.

HARVEST: Rhizomes and roots in fall.

USES: The rhizomes and roots are reported to have therapeutic

use as a diuretic tonic and sedative. The plant is known as

colicroot because it has been used to treat colic, and

ague-root because of its value in treating rheumatism, often

called ague in Colonial times. In Appalachia a mixture of

roots and brandy or whisky is drunk as a treatment for

rheumatism.

40
ALETRIS FARINOSA L.

(LILIACEAE)

41
ALNUS SERRULATA (AIT.) WILLD.

(CORYLACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Hazel alder, alder, American alder, black

alder, candle alder, common alder, green alder, notch-leaved

alder, red alder, smooth alder, speckled alder, swamp alder,

tag alder.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or small tree 4 to 25 feet in height

with smooth, brownish-gray bark, which is strongly aromatic.

The finely sawtoothed leaves are somewhat leathery, 2 to AV2

inches long, oval in shape, and broadest at the middle. Male

flowers are borne in drooping catkins, female flowers in

small, erect, oval cone-like catkins that turn hard and woody

and remain on the shrub throughout winter.

FLOWERING PERIOD: February to May.

HABITAT: Swamps, wet woods, stream margins, and moist

areas.

HARVEST: Bark of stems in early spring or late fall.

USES: The bark has been used as an alterative and the

powdered drug as an opthalmiatric. In Appalachia, the

chewed bark is used to treat wounds and ulcers. The bark has

also been used for brown dye.

42
ALNUS SERRULATA (AIT.) WILLD.

(CORYLACEAE)

43
AMARANTHUS HYBRIDUS L.

(AMARANTHACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Smooth pigweed, amaranth, careless, green

amaranth, green opened amaranth, hybrid amaranthus, love

lies bleeding, pigweed, prince's feather, red cockscomb,

slender pigweed, slim amaranth, spleen amaranth, wild beet.

DESCRIPTION: An annual 1 to 6 feet in height, erect,

branched above. Leaves are alternate, petioled, 3 to 6 inches

long, dull green, rough, hairy, ovate or rhombic, with wavy

margins. Flowers are small, with greenish or red terminal

panicles. Taproot is long, fleshy, red or pink.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to October.

HABITAT: Waste places, cultivated fields, and barn yards.

HARVEST: Leaves and herb.

USES: Because of its astringent quality, this plant has been

used in treating dysentery, ulcers, and hemmorrhage of the

bowel.

44
AMARANTHUS HYBRIDUS L.

(AMARANTHACEAE

#'^

45
ANGELICA ATROPURPÚREA L.

(UMBELLIFERAE)

COMMON NAMES: Purplestem angelica, alexanders, American

angelica, angelica, archangel. Aunt Jerichos, bellyache root,

common angeUca, dead nettle, great angeUca, high angelica,

masterwort, masterwort aromatic.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub that grows to 7 feet in height. Stem is

purplish. Three saw-toothed leaves occur at the tip of each

leaf-stem. Leaves are alternate and compound; leaflets are

3-parted with serrate margins. White or greenish flowers

occur in terminal clusters at the end of stalk. Stalks and

clusters are arranged in a semicircle or umbel.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Mostly cultivated in gardens; in rich low grounds,

and near streams and swamps.

HARVEST: Root in fall.

USES: The drug contains volatile oil that is used as a flavoring

agent and in treating colic and flatulence. Some sources list it

as an expectorant. A confection prepared by sugaring the

boiled stems is considered a gourmet favorite. In Europe a

root infusion is used to treat dyspepsia and stomach diseases

and is considered diuretic and expectorant.

46
ANGELICA ATROPURPÚREA L.

(UMBELLIFERAE)

413-947 O - 71 - 4

47
APLECTRUM HYEMALE (MUHL.) TORR.

(ORCHIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Puttyroot, Adam-and-Eve-root.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial orchid that grows from a series of

bulbJike roots attached by narrower roots. The plant has a

single, broad, elliptical pointed leaf at the base. Flower spike,

which arises from the root, has small leaflike structures

enclosing the stem. Flower is purplish toward its base and

brown toward its summit, with white lip.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to June.

HABITAT: Moist shaded woods and in set soil of flood plains.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: Plant is reputed to have value in treating bronchial

ailments.

48
APLECTRUM HYEMALE (MUHL.) TORR.

(ORCHIDACEAE)

49
APOCYNUM ANDROSAEMIFOLIUM L.

(APOCYNACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Spreading dogbane, American ipecac,

bitter dogbane, bitter-root, black Indian hemp, catch fly,

coHcroot, common dog's-bane, dogbane, fly trap, honey

bloom, Indian hemp, milk ipecac, milkweed, rheumatism

wood, wandering milkweed, western wallflower, wild ipecac.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 to 6 feet in

height, and is widely spread from horizontal rootstock.

Leaves opposite, nearly sessile. Flowers large, oval, and

whitish. The pods are double, 4 to 6 inches long, and slender.

The plant produces a milky juice.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Open woods, roadside banks, meadows, thickets,

and stream banks.

HARVEST: Roots and rhizomes in late fall.

USES: This plant, which is extremely poisonous, is a cardioactive drug. It has been used also as a tonic, diuretic, and

purgative.

50
APOCYNUM ANDROSAEMIFOLIUM L.

(APOCYNACEAE)

51
APOCYNUM CANNABINUM L.

(APOCYNACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Hemp dogbane, American hemp, amyroot,

bitter-root. Bowman's root, Canadian hemp, choctaw root,

glabrous hemp, Indian hemp, Indian physic, milkweed,

rheumatism weed, silkweed, wild cotton.

DESCRIPTION: This perennial is generally 3 to 6 feet in

height, and is unbranched except near the top. It has large

elliptical, opposite leaves with short stalks. It produces

whitish-green flowers borne on terminal clusters, and a milky

juice. The pods are double, 4 to 6 inches long, and slender.

The seeds are tufted.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Dry waste places and forest borders.

HARVEST: Roots and rhizomes in late fall.

USES: This plant is a cardiotonic drug that is extremely

poisonous. It has been used as a diuretic, diaphoretic,

expectorant, and emetic. Because of its use by American

Indians in treating dropsy, it has been called dropsy weed.

Indians also used the tough fibrous bark to make fishing nets,

and some western Indians chewed dried bits of the latex. The

plant exhibits cytotoxicity but no antitumor activity.

52
APOCYNUM CANNABINUM L.

(APOCYNACEAE)

53
ARALIA NUDICAULIS L.

(ARALIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Wild sarsaparilla, American sarsaparilla,

American spikenard, false sarsaparilla, rabbit's foot, sarsaparil, sarsaparilla, sarsaparilla root, shotbush, small spikenard,

small spikeweed, spignet, spikenard, sweetroot, Virginian

sarsaparilla, wild licorice.

DESCRIPTION: A short-stemmed perennial that grows to 1

foot in height. Flowers are small and greenish-yellbw in 3

clusters of 12 to 30 flowers on the stalk. Plant produces

purplish-black berry-like fruits.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Deep mountain woodlands.

HARVEST: Roots in late summer and fall.

USES: The roots and rhizomes have been used as a diuretic,

diaphoretic, and cough remedy.

54
ARALIA NUDieAULIS L.

(ARALIACEAE)

55
ARALIA RACEMOSA L.

(ARALIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American spikenard, American sarsaparilla, Indian root, life-of-man, old man's root, petty morrel,

pigeon weed, spignet, spikenard.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial 1 to 9 feet in height, with a single

leaf stalk. Leaf is divided into 3 parts, each with five leaflets.

Flowering stalk is elongated, with small greenish-yellow

flowers in clusters. Produces a blackish or purplish berry.

Root is larger than the root on nudicaulis.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Bluffs, deep woods, and river banks.

HARVEST: Roots in summer and fall.

USES: Roots and rhizomes have been used to treat rheumatism, syphilis, coughs, and shortness of breath. In Appalachia,

a tea made of roots is used for backache.

56
ARALIA RACEMOSA L.

(ARALIACEAE)

57
ARCTIUM LAPPA L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Great burdock, beggar's buttons, burdock,

clotbur, lappa.

DESCRIPTION: A biennial or perennial 3 to 8 feet in height,

with many flowered heads. Leaves are large, broad, and

rounded—like those on rhubarb. The tube-shaped flowers are

pale pink, deep purple, or white. Big brown, round, bristly

burrs are a common characteristic of the plant.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to October.

HABITAT: Fields and roadsides.

HARVEST: Root of plant's first year of growth; can be

harvested anytime.

USES: The United States Dispensatory no longer lists this herb

as medicinally valuable, but in the past it was quite popular

for treating many ailments. In Spain and France it has been

used to purify the blood and to cure skin blemishes and

minor wounds. In 18th Century America it was prescribed as

a cure for gonorrhea and syphilis. In Appalachia, a tea of

roots or seeds is used to treat rheumatism and to purify the

blood.

58
ARCTIUM LAPPA L.

(ASTERACEAE)

59
ARCTIUM MINUS (HILL) BERNH.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common burdock, burdock, clotbur,

cuckoo button, smaller burdock.

DESCRIPTION: A biennial or perennial 3 to 8 feet in height,

with many flowered heads. Leaves are large, broad, and

rounded-like those on rhubarb. The tube-shaped flowers are

pale pink, deep purple, or white. Big, brown, round, bristly

burrs are a common characteristic.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to October.

HABITAT: Fields and pastures.

HARVEST: Roots in the fall of plant's first year of growth;

seeds the second year of growth.

USES: Plant is a diaphoretic, diuretic, alterative, and depurative. It is used externally in salves or as a wash for burns, skin

irritations, and minor wounds.

60
ARCTIUM MINUS (HILL) BERNH.

(ASTERACEAE)

61
ARISAEMA TRIPHYLLUM (L.) SCHOTT.

(ARACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Indian Jack-in-the-pulpit, bog onion,

cuckoo plant, dragon root, dragon turnip, Indian turnip,

Jack-in-the-pulpit, lords and ladies, meadow turnip, memory

root, pepper turnip, priest's pintle, small Jack-in-the-pulpit,

starchwort, swamp turnip, thrice-leaved arum, wake robin,

wild turnip.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that has 2 stalks of 3 leaves each,

and grows another stalk topped with a green tubular pulpit,

which has a hood turned down over it that protects an inside

green or dark purple tube. The pulpit stalk has brilliant

crimson berries in dense clusters.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Rich damp woodlands and bogs.

HARVEST: Corm in summer or fall.

USES: The boiled corms of this plant were a mainstay in the

diet of the American Indians. Because of the needle-like

calcium oxalate crystals, the raw corm is extremely irritating

and toxic. The plant has been used as an expectorant,

irritant, and diaphoretic.

62
ARISAEMA TRIPHYLLUM (L.) SCHOTT.

(ARACEAE)

413-947 0-71-5

63
ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA L.

(ARISTOLOCHIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Virginia snakeroot, birthwort, Dutchmanspipe, pelican flower, sangrel, sangrel-root, serpentaria, serpentary root, snakeroot, snakeweed, thick birthwort.

DESCRIPTION: This perennial is 1 to 2 feet in height. It has

an erect stem and heart-shaped leaves that taper to a point at

the tip. Brownish pipe-like flowers grow from base of the

plant stem.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to June.

HABITAT: Forests, woodlands, and stream banks.

HARVEST: Rootstock and roots in fall.

USES: Preparations from this herb have been used as aids in

dyspepsia, as antispasmodics, diaphoretics, and emmenagogues.

64
ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA L.

(ARISTOLOCHIACEAE)

65
ASARUM CANADENSE L.

(ARISTOLOCHIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Canada wild ginger, black snakeroot, black

snakeweed, broad-leaved sarabacca, Canada snakeroot, catfoot, colicroot, coltsfoot, coltsfoot snakeroot, false colt's

foot, heart snakeroot, Indian ginger, southern snakeroot, wild

ginger.

DESCRIPTION: A low-growing stemless perennial with heartshaped soft leaves growing from a rhizome. Thick, brownish,

bell-shaped flowers, purple inside, are found near the root.

The flowers are often hidden under dry leaves. The stem has

a spicy odor.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Cool, moist, deep woods and slopes.

HARVEST: Rhizome in spring or fall, and roots anytime.

USES: The first common name of this plant, Canada wild

ginger, indicates the aromatic quality of its rhizome. It was

used as a flavoring agent in Colonial America in place of

Jamaica ginger. The rhizome has value as an expectorant,

antiseptic, and tonic. In Appalachia a root tea is used to

relieve stomach gas.

66
ASARUM CANADENSE L.

(ARISTOLOCHIACEAE)

67
ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA L.

(ASCLEPIADACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common milkweed, common silkweed,

cottonweed, milkweed, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, wild

cotton.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that generally grows to 4 to 5 feet

in height. Leaves are broadly oval, opposite, or whorled,

pubescent beneath, and measure 4 to 8 inches long. Dull

greenish-purple flowers are clustered in a head.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Thickets, meadows, fields, orchards, and along

roadsides.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: Reputedly this plant is valuable as an expectorant,

antirheumatic, diaphoretic, and diuretic. It is also a source of

glucoside and alkaloid. In Appalachia it is used to treat warts

and moles. The white juice of this plant is extremely

irritating to the eyes.

68
ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA L.

(ASCLEPIADACEAE)

69
ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA L.

(ASCLEPIADACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Butterfly milkweed, butterfly weed, Canada root, chigger flower, fluxroot, Indian nosy, orange

apocynum, orange milkweed, orangeroot, orange swallowwort, pleurisy root, rubber root, silkweed, swallow-wort,

tuberous-rooted swallow-wort, tuber root, white root, wind

root, wind weed, wine tree.

DESCRIPTION: A very leafy, slightly hairy perennial that

grows to 2 to 3 feet in height. Leaves are 2 to 6 inches long,

narrow, alternate, and short petioled. Orange-yellow flowers

are in umbels. Fruit is a pod. Seeds have white silky hairs.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to August.

HABITAT: Sandy, dry open soils, pastures, and roadsides.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: The plant has been used as an expectorant, diaphoretic,

and emetic, and to treat rheumatism. Indians of Appalachia

made a tea of the leaves to induce vomiting.

70
ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA L.

(ASCLEPIADACEAE)

71
BAPTISM TINCTORIA (L.) R. BR.

(FABACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Wild indigo, clover bloom, dyer's baptisia,

false indigo, horsefly weed, indigo broom, indigo weed,

rattlebush, rattleweed, yellow broom, yellow wild indigo.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows 2 to 4 feet in height.

Stem is erect, and has alternate branches that contain several

whorls of 3 clover-like leaflets. Each branch has a whorl of 3

leaflets where it attaches to the stem. Leaves are nearly

sessile. Yellow flowers, which are arranged at the tops of the

highest branches, are Vi inch long, and form brown Vi-inch

cylindrical pods.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to August.

HABITAT: Mostly in dry open woods and clearings.

HARVEST: Roots in fall, herb in summer.

USES: Most authors agree that the herb has value as a

febrifuge, tonic, purgative, and antiseptic.

72
BAPTISM TINCTORIA (L.) R. BR.

ÍFABACEAE)

73
BERBERíS VULGARIS L.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: European barberry, American barberry,

barberry, common barberry, dragon grape, guild tree, jaundice barberry, jaundice berry, pepperidge bush, sow berry,

wood sour, yellow root.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub that grows to 8 feet in

height. Leaves are small, ovate, grayish below; leaves on

young sprouts are spiny. Yellow flowers are in racemes 1 to 2

inches long. Fruit is oblong, scarlet to purple. Inner wood is

yellow. Bark is gray, having sharp spines at nodes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Pastures, thickets, and fence rows.

HARVEST: Root and stem, root bark, and fruit in fall.

USES: The fruit is rich in Vitamin C and has been used in

treating certain vitamin deficiencies. The root bark, which is

astringent, has been used to treat diarrhea, dysentery, and

jaundice. In Europe, a root infusion is used to treat chronic

dyspepsia.

74
BERBERíS VULGARIS L.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

75
BETULA LENTA L.

(CORYLACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sweet birch, black birch, cherry birch,

mountain mahogany, river birch, spice birch.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that grows to 80 feet in height. Bark is

dark reddish-brown, close-fissured into thick plates on old

trunks. Leaves are iVi to 5 inches long and iVi to 3 inches

wide (widest near the base); they are also finely toothed on

the edges, and rounded at the base. Bark and leaves are sweet

and aromatic. Tree bears both male and female flowers in

catkins or caterpillar-like spikes Vi inch long.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to mid-May.

HABITAT: Rich woods and moist, well-drained to shallow

soils.

HARVEST: Bark and twigs from May to late September.

USES: The bark of this plant contains small quantities of

methyl salicylate and has a pleasant aromatic flavor similar to

wintergreen. The bark has been used as an astringent,

antiseptic, antipyretic, and antirheumatic. The sap may be

made into vinegar. Birch beer is also made from this tree.

76
BETULA LENTA L.

(CORYLACEAE)

1''' ¡ ' >' % I

77
CAULOPHYLLUM THALICTROIDES

(L.) MICHX.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Blue cohosh, blueberry cohosh, blueberry

root, blue ginseng, papoose root, squaw root, yellow ginseng.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. It

has an almost sessile leaf at top, and leaflets are either 2- or

3-lobed. In spring, plant sends up a small, elongated axis of

yellowish-green flowers. Rootstock is knotty and matted.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to early June.

HABITAT: Richly wooded mountains and hardwood glades.

HARVEST: Rhizomes and roots in the fall.

USES: This herb has been called papoose root or squaw root

because of its use by American Indians to facilitate childbirth. The rhizome has been used to treat chronic rheumatism, bronchitis, and colic.

78
CAULOPHYLLUM THALICTROIDES

(L.) MICHX.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

ICiWPf^i*

^^1S2,I_

413-947 0-71-6

79
CEANOTHUS AMERICANOS L.

(RHAMNACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Jersey tea ceanothus, New Jersey tea, red

root, wild snowball.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub that grows to 2 to 3 feet in height. It

has straggling, downy, alternate, ovate, finely-toothed leaves

that are pale green below and dark green above. The plant

produces white flowers on long stalks at upper axils.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to September.

HABITAT: Upland deciduous forests, roadsides, dry open

woods, and rocky banks.

HARVEST: Bark of root, root, and leaves.

USES: The root is reportedly used as an astringent, stimulant,

antispasmodic, expectorant, and sedative. According to one

authority, the root is also used to treat respiratory ailments.

In Europe it has been used to reduce high blood pressure and

to treat enlarged spleen. The leaves are used for a tea.

80
CEANOTHUS AMERICANOS L.

[RHAMNACEAE)

81
CHAMAELIRIUM LUTEUM (L.) GRAY

(LILIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Fairywand, blazing star, devil's bit, false

unicorn, grub root, helonias, rattlesnake root, star root,

starwort.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 4 feet in height.

Plant produces a rosette of basal leaves from which a spike

rises. A few narrowly linear leaves may be found on the

spike. Male and female flowers are on different plants. The

male flowers are white and, when dried, yellowish; the female

flowers are greenish.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to July.

HABITAT: Bogs and wet places in woodlands, meadows, and

thickets.

HARVEST: Rootstock in fall.

USES: This herb has been used as a diuretic, diaphoretic,

anthelmintic, purgative, and tonic.

82
CHAMAELIRWM LUTEUM (L.) GRAY

(LILIACEAE)

.J^

--^

83
CHELONE GLABRA L.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: White turtlehead, balmony, bitter herb,

fishmouth, salt-rheum weed, shellflower, smooth snakehead,

snakehead, snakemouth, true snakehead, turtle bloom, turtlehead.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height.

Leaves are opposite, narrow, and 2 to óVz inches long.

Flowers are rose-white and about 1 inch long. A pale,

beard-like structure is found within the turtlehead flower

tube.

FLOWERING PERIOD: August to October.

HABITAT: Low grounds, woodland, margins of streams, and

wet thickets.

HARVEST: Herb at flowering time; leaves in spring.

USES: The leaves have been used for reducing inflammation,

and as an anthelmintic and tonic.

84
CHELONE GLABRA L.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

85
CHENOPODIUM AMBROSIOIDES L.

(CHENOPODIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Mexican tea, ambrosia, ambrosia-like chenopodium, American wormseed, goose foot, Jerusalem oak

seed, Jerusalem tea, Jesuit tea, Spanish tea, stickweed,

stinking weed, wild wormseed, wormseed, wormseed goosefoot.

DESCRIPTION: An annual that grows to SVi feet in height.

Branches sprout profusely from the base. Leaves are alternate, ovate to lanceolate in shape, and about 5 inches long.

Small, greenish flowers grow along small, leafless spikes in the

axils of the leaves.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to October.

HABITAT: Waste places, cultivated ground, abandoned fields.

HARVEST: Fruit in summer, entire plant or seed from August

to November.

USES: Primary use is in the manufacturing of chenopodium

oil, which is used to treat intestinal worms, both in humans

and animals. The pollen is allergenic. In Mexico it is cooked

and eaten as a vermifuge, and in Europe it is used as an

infusion. In New Mexico, Spanish speaking people use a tea

made of the leaves to encourage milk flow and to relieve

post-delivery pains.

86
CHENOPODIUM AMBROSIOIDES L.

(CHENOPODIACEAE)

87
CHIMAPHILA MACULATA (L.) PURSH.

(PYROLACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Spotted wintergreen, dragon's tongue,

pepsissewa, ratsbane, rheumatism root, spotted pipsissewa,

wild arsenic, wintergreen.

DESCRIPTION: An evergreen perennial that grows to 10

inches in height. Leaves are dark green, blunt-toothed, and

wedge-shaped. Flowers are about Vi inch in size, fleshcolored, with violet pollen sacs.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to June.

HABITAT:Coniferous and hardwood forests.

HARVEST: Leaves.

USES: According to at least two authorities, this plant is used

as a diuretic, tonic, and astringent. It is used also, according

to other authorities, to treat skin eruptions, certain types of

cancer, acute rheumatism, and syphilis. Still other uses are as

an aromatic and alterative.

88
CHIMAPHILA MACULATA (L.) PURSH.

(PYROLACEAE)

89
CHIMAPHILA UMBELLATA (L.) NUTT.

(PYROLACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common pipsissewa, bitter wintergreen,

fragrant wintergreen, ground holly, king's cure, love-inwinter, noble pine, pine tulip, pipsissewa, prince's pine,

princess pine, pyrole, rheumatism weed, waxflower, wintergreen.

DESCRIPTION: An evergreen perennial that grows to 10

inches in height. Leaves are dark green, blunt-toothed, and

wedge-shaped. Flowers are about V2 inch in size, fleshcolored, with violet pollen sacs.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to June.

HABITAT: Coniferous and hardwood forests, and acid woodlands.

HARVEST: Leaves and herbs in late summer or early fall.

USES: The dried leaves are reportedly used as a diuretic,

astringent, tonic, and antirheumatic.

90
CHIMAPHILA UMBELLATA (L.) NUTT.

(PYROLACEAE)

91
CHIONANTHUS VIRGINICUS L.

(OLEACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Fringe tree, American fringe tree, flowering ash, graybeard tree, old man's beard, poison ash, shavings,

snowdrop tree, snowflowers, white fringe, white fringe tree.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or tree about 35 feet in height.

Leaves are opposite. Produces many white flowers on long

stems, in panicles. Berries are fleshy, globular, and purple.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Damp woods, thickets, bluffs, and dry woods.

HARVEST: Root bark and fresh bark of trunks in the fall.

USES: The bark is used as a tonic, diuretic, and astringent; it is

also used to reduce fever. In Appalachia a liquid of boiled

root bark is applied to skin irritations.

92
CHIONANTHUS VIRGINICUS L.

(OLEACEAE)

93
CIMICIFUGA AMERICANA MICHX.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American bugbane, bugbane, mountain

bugbane, mountain rattle-top, summer cohosh.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub that grows to 3 to 4 feet in

height. The plant resembles C. racemosa (L.) Nutt but is not

as tall; and it has shorter lateral spikes of small, white flowers

plus a terminal spike.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Moist woods.

HARVEST: Rhizomes and roots at end of growing season.

USES: This plant is used as an antispasmodic in some areas.

(See C. racemosa,)

94
CIMICIFUGA AMERICANA MICHX.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

413-947 0-71-7

95
CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA (L.) NUTT.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Cohosh bugbane, battle weed, black cohosh, black snakeroot, blueberry, blue ginseng, bugbane,

cohosh, columbine-leaved leontice, cordate rattle-top, false

cohosh, heart-leaved rattle-top, heart-leaved snakeroot,

meadow rue leontice, papoose root, rattle root, rattlesnake

root, rattle-top, rattleweed, richweed, squaw root, yellow

ginseng.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub that grows to 8 feet in

height. Each of the leaf stems holds 2, 3, or 5 leaflets. The

plant is topped with a slender spike of small, white flowers.

The rhizome or root is knotted.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Rich, open woods.

HARVEST: Rhizomes and roots in the fall.

USES: The roots and rhizomes are considered valuable in

treating chronic rheumatism. The plant is also used as an

expectorant, astringent, emmenagogue, and bitter tonic. In

Appalachia, a tea made from the root is used to treat sore

throat.

96
CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA (L.) NUTT.

97
CNICUS BENEDICTOS L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Blessed thistle, bitter thistle, bitterweed,

blessed carduus, carduus, cursed thistle, holy thistle, ourlady's thistle, spotted carduus, spotted thistle, St. Benedict's

thistle.

DESCRIPTION: This annual grows to about 2 feet in height.

Leaves are thistle-like, toothed, lobed, and spiny. Plant

produces many flowered yellow heads.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to August.

HABITAT: Roadsides and waste places.

HARVEST: Herbs and tops in bloom; ripe seed.

USES: The upper portion of this plant has been used to treat

worms; and it is also used in an emmenagogue, stimulant,

tonic, and emetic. Because it is hemostatic, the seed is also

useful as an emetic. In Europe, ground parts of the plant are

mixed with wine for use as an aperitif.

98
CNICUS BENEDICTOS L.

(ASTERACEAE)

99
COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Citronella horse balm, broadleaf coUinsonia, Canadian coUinsonia, citronella, hard hack, heal-all,

horse balm, horseweed, knob grass, knobroot, ox balm,

richweed, stone root.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height.

Leaves are opposite, large, coarsely toothed, and roughly

ovate in shape. Strongly scented lemon-yellow^ flov^ers are

arranged vertically along opposite branches of the main stem.

Plant rises from a thick, woody rhizome.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Rich, moist woods.

HARVEST: Herb at flowering; root in fall.

USES: Roots are used as a sedative and antispasmodic, diuretic,

astringent, and tonic.

100
COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

101
COMPTONIA PEREGRINA (L.) COULT.

(MYRICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sweet fern, Canadian sweetgale, fern bush,

ferngale, ferngate, meadow'fern, shrubby fern, shrubby-sweet

fern, spleen fern, spleenwort bush, spleenwort fern, sweet

bush, sweet ferry.

DESCRIPTION: A sweet-smeHing, many-branched, perennial

shrub that grows to 3 feet in height. Small branches are

lightly hairy. Leaves are alternate, 3 to 6 inches long, linear,

and deeply cleft. Produces fuzzy pistillate flowers in catkins,

and /4 inch shiny, brown nutlets.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April.

HABITAT: Open, sterile woodlands; clearings, pastures, and

dry woods.

HARVEST: Leaves.

USES: The U.S. Dispensatory states that a decoction of the

plant is used to treat diarrhea. Another authority says the

plant has value in treating poison ivy.

102
COMPTONIA PEREGRINA (L.) COULT.

(MYRICACEAE)

103
CORALLORHIZA (CHAT.)

(ORCHIDAGEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Coralroot, crawleyroot, dragon's claws.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial saprophytic orchid that has no

green foliage. Produces spike-like flowering stem, with

yellow, brown, or purplish flowers arranged along the stem.

Rhizomes are coral-like, and clustered.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Uplands, damp woods, thickets, swamps, coniferous and deciduous woods.

HARVEST: Root.

USES: The plant is diaphoretic, and is used as a sedative.

104
CORALLORHIZA (CHAT.)

(ORCHIDACEAE)

105
CYPRIPEDIUM CALCÉOLOS L.

vár. PARVIFLORUM (SALISB.) FERN.

(ORCHIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Yellow lady's slipper, American valerian,

lady-slipper, nerve root, small golden slipper, small moccasin

flower, small yellow lady's slipper, yellow Indian shoe,

yellow moccasin.

DESCRIPTION: An aromatic perennial that grows to 4 to 28

inches in height. Ovate, alternate leaves grow from sheaths

around stem of plant. It has large, sac-like yellow "slippers".

Flower petals range from greenish yellow to purplish brown.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Bogs and moist places.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: The plant is used as a sedative and in treating neuralgia.

In Appalachia, a root tea is used to treat nervous ailments

and headaches.

106
CYPRIPEDIUM CALCEOLUS L.

var. PARVIFLORUM (SALISB.) FERN.

(ORCHIDACEAE)

107
DATURA STRAMONIUM L.

(SOLANACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Jimsonweed, apple of Peru, apple Peru,

devil's trumpet, Jamestown weed, jimsonweed datura, mad

apple, stink apple, stinkweed, stinkwort, stramonium, thorn

apple.

DESCRIPTION: An ill-scented annual weed that grows 1 to 5

feet in height. Leaves are 4 to 6 inches long, broad, unevenly

and largely toothed. Flowers are long, tubular, pale blue in

leaf axils or stem forks. Plant produces large prickly capsules

as fruit.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to October.

HABITAT: Forest edge, fields, roadsides, and waste ground.

HARVEST: Leaves and tops when plant is in flower; seeds

when mature.

USES: This extremely poisonous plant is used as an antispasmodic, antiasthmatic, and anodyne sedative. The dried leaves

are frequently mixed with saltpeter and burned in a

treatment for asthma. In Appalachia, a poultice made from

blossoms is used to treat wounds and to kill pain; also, dried

leaves are smoked in a pipe to relieve asthma. In the

Southwest, the plant is used by Zuni Indians as a hallucogenic. In Europe, where the plant has been known for

centuries, it is used to treat pulmonary disease, nervous

afflictions, and nymphomania. And legend has it that the

Delphic Oracle inhaled smoke from burning Datura leaves to

induce visions.

108
DATURA STRAMONIUM L.

(SOLANACEAE)

109
DIOSCOREA VILLOSA L.

(DIOSCOREACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Atlantic yam, China root, colicroot, devil's

bones, dioscorea, rheumatism root, wild yam, yam.

DESCRIPTION: A twining perennial vine that grows to 15 feet

in height. Bottom 3 leaves are sometimes whorled. Plant has

an alternate heart-shaped leaf base; and stems of tiny,

greenish flowers grow opposite some of the leaves. Produces

triangular capsules as fruit. Rootstock is slender, infrequently

branched.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Deciduous woods, thickets, swamps, and wet

woods.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: This herb is used as an expectorant, emetic, antispasmodic, and diaphoretic.

110
DIOSCOREA VILLOSA L.

(DIOSCOREACEAE)

413-947 0-71-8

111
ECHINACEA PURPUREA (L.) MOENCH

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Purple echinacea, black Sampson, combflower, hedgehog, purple cone flower, red sunflower.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 2 to 5 feet in

height. Leaves are alternate, ovate to lanceolate in shape;

bases contract abruptly to long, sometimes winged stems; leaf

margins are toothed; and uppermost leaves have no stems.

Flower heads are purple to white. Plant has thick, acid-tasting

black roots.

BLOOMING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Dry open woods and road banks.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: U.S. Dispensatory states that this plant reportedly

increases the body's resistance to infection. Tinctures of

Echinacea species have been used in corn remedies.

112
ECHINACEA PURPUREA (L.) MOENCH

(FABACEAE)

113
ERYNGIUM AQUATICUM L.

(APIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Button snakeroot eryngo, button snakeroot, corn snakeroot, eryngo, feverweed, rattlesnake flag,

rattlesnake master, rattlesnake weed, water eryngo.

DESCRIPTION: An erect, coarse-branched, perennial that

grows to Vi to 5 feet in height. It has firm elongate-tolanceolate lower leaves; upper leaves are sessile. The plant

bears fi-uit from September to November.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Late July to September.

HABITAT: Fresh to brackish marshes, streams, ponds and

bogs, and wet pinelands.

HARVEST: Rootstock in fall.

USES: In large doses, infusions have been used as emetics. Also

used as a diaphoretic and expectorant.

114
ERYNGIUM AQUATICUM L.

(APIACEAE)

115
EUoNYMUS ATROPURPUREUS JACQ.

(CELASTRACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Eastern wahoo, American spindle tree,

arrow-wood, bitter ash, bleeding heart, burning bush, bursting heart, Indian arrow-wood, pegwood, purple strawberry

bush, skewerwood, spindle tree, strawberry bush, wahoo.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or small tree that grows to 25 feet in

height. It has green 4-sided branches and purplish flowers.

Produces seeds in prominent scarlet 4-lobed fruit.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Rich woods and thickets, stream banks, swamps,

and forests.

HARVEST: Bark of root and stem any time of the year.

USES: The bark is reported to be of value as a drastic

purgative.

116
EUONYMUS ATROPURPÚREOS JACQ.

(CELASTRACEAE)

117
EUPATORIUM PERFOLIATUM L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Boneset, ague-weed, common boneset,

crosswort, feverwort, Indian sage, Joepye, sweating plant,

sweating weed, teagel, thorough-stem, thoroughwax, thoroughwort, throughstem, vegetable antimony, wild Isaac, wild

sage.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 to 5 feet in

height. Heavy stems are lightly hairy. Leaves are opposite,

and grow completely together at the base. Produces flat

heads of white- or purple-tinged flowers.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Late July to October.

HABITAT: Swamps, marshes, low ground, alluvial woods,

damp areas, and pastures.

HARVEST: Herb in spring, leaves and flowering tops in late

summer (Avoid coarse stems.)

USES: This plant is used as a stimulant to promote digestion,

strengthen the viscera, and restore body tone. It is also

considered sudorific, alterative, antiseptic, cathartic, emetic,

febrifuge, diuretic, and astringent. In Appalachia, a tea made

of the leaves is used to treat coughs aiid consumption, and it

is used as a laxative.

118
EUPATORIOM PERFOLIATUM L.

(ASTERACEAE)

119
EUPATORIOM PURPUREUM L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Bluestem Joe-pyeweed, gravelroot, greenstemmed Joe-pyeweed, hempweed, Indian gravelroot, Joepyeweed, jopiroot, jopiweed, kidneyroot, king-of-themeadow, marsh milkweed, motherwort, niggerweed, purple

boneset, purple thoroughwort, queen-of-the-meadow, quillwort, stinkweed, sweet Joe-pyeweed, tall boneset, trumpetweed.

DESCRIPTION: This perennial grows to 3 to 10 feet in height.

Leaves are in two's and five's, and in whorls to 1 foot long;

they are coarsely toothed, and smell like vanilla. Stem is solid

in cross-section and tinged with purple. Heads of flowers

range from creamy white to purple-tinged.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Rich, dry to moist, chiefly calcareous woods.

HARVEST: Rhizome in fall; leaves and flowering tops in

summer and fall (Avoid coarse stems.)

USES: This plant is used for urinary disorders. The roots and

herb are diuretic, stimulant, tonic, and astringent; they were

used by American Indians, who also used the fruit for red or

pink dye.

120
EUPATORIOM PURPUREUM L.

(ASTERACEAE)

121
FRAGARIA VIRGINIANA DUCHESNE.

(ROSACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Virginia strawberry, Indian strawberry,

scarlet strawberry, strawberry, wild strawberry.

DESCRIPTION: A low-running perennial with 3 ovate toothed

leaflets. The flowers have 5 white petals, and the fruit is red.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to June or later.

HABITAT: Fields, open slopes, borders of woods.

HARVEST: Leaves and fruit.

USES: Leaves of this plant are mildly astringent; the fruit has

been used as an old-time gout remedy and refrigerant.

122
FRAGARIA VIRGINIANA DUCHESNE.

[ROSACEAE)

123
FRAXINUS AMERICANA L.

(OLEACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: White ash, American ash, American white

ash, ash, biltmore ash, biltmore white ash, cane ash, smallseed

white ash.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that grows to 120 feet in height. Bark

is ashy gray and furrowed. Leaves are 8 to 12 inches long,

with 5 to 9 (mostly 7) leaflets 3 to 5 inches long, rounded at

the base and about half as wide as they are long. The winged

seeds are from 1 to 3 inches long, narrow, flat, and

one-seeded; and they occur in clusters.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Rich upland to lowland woods, lower to middle

slopes.

HARVEST: Inner bark of trunk and roots, and stem in the

spring.

USES: The bark of this plant is tonic, cathartic, diuretic, a

febrifuge, diaphoretic, astringent, antiarthritic, and alterative.

It has been prescribed for headache followed by fever, fever

sores of the lips, and constipation. In Appalachia, the chewed

bark is used as a poultice on sores, and a tea made from the

buds is used for snakebite.

124
FRAXINUS AMERICANA L.

(OLEACEAE)

125
GALIUM APARINE L.

(RUBIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Catchweed bedstraw, bedstraw, catchweed, cheese rennet herb, chicus, clabbergrass, cleavers,

cleaver's herb, cleaves, clevenvort, goosegrass, goose's hare,

milksweet, poor robin, savoyan, scratchweed, spring cleavers,

turkey grass.

DESCRIPTION: An annual that has a weak, reclining, bristly

4-angled stem, with hairy joints. Leaves occur in whorls of 8.

Flowers are white in cymes. Fruit is very bristly.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Rich woods, thickets, seashores, waste ground, and

shady areas.

HARVEST: Herb in May and June, during flowering.

USES: The U. S. Dispensatory lists the plant as an anti-scorbutic. The herb is also a diuretic, tonic, astringent, antispasmodic; and it is used to treat inflammation of the kidneys

and bladder. The seeds are used as a coffee substitute in

Sweden; and the dried plant is used as a tea in some

countries.

126
GALIUM APARINE L.

(RUBIACEAE)

413-947 0-71-9 127
GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS L.

(ERICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Checkerberry wintergreen, aromatic wintergreen, berried tea, boxberry, Canadian tea, checkerberry,

chequerberry, chidkerberry, clink, creeping wintergreen,

deerberry, dewberry, ground holly, ground ivy, grouse berry,

hillberry, ivory plum, mountain berry, mountain tea, mountain teaberry, partridge berry, pigeonberry, red-berry tea, red

pollom, roxberry, spiceberry, spicy wintergreen, spring wintergreen, teaberry, three-leaved wintergreen, traiUng gautheria, wax cluster, winterberry, wintergreen.

DESCRIPTION: A low, creeping, aromatic, evergreen shrub,

with 2- to 6-inch branches. Leaves are shiny and waxy. Single

white, nodding flowers are in racemes in axils. Produces

bright red berries in fall and winter.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Sterile woods and clearings, dry wooded areas;

commonly found growing with rhododendron, mountain

laurel, and other members of the heath family.

HARVEST: Herb and leaves in fall.

USES: The plant is primarily a source of true wintergreen oil,

which is used as a flavor, counterirritant, astringent, and

carminative. Wintergreen oil is extremely toxic if consumed

internally.

128
GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS L.

(ERICACEAE)

129
GELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS (L.) AIT.

(LOGANIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Yellow jessamine, Carolina jessamine,

evening trumpet flower, false jasmine, false jessamine, gelsemium, jasmine, wild jasmine, wild jessamine, woodbine,

yellow jasmine root.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial vine with horizontal, branched,

cylindrical rootstock. Leaves are short-stalked, lanceolate,

aromatic, and evergreen, with smooth margins. Flowers are

showy, fragrant, and tubular.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to May.

HABITAT: Thickets, roadsides, fence rows, dry and damp

woods, and sandy areas.

HARVEST: Roots and rhizomes just after flowering in fall.

USES: This is a very poisonous plant. Preparations made from

the roots and rhizomes have been used as central nervoussystem depressants, febrifuge, anodyne, and antispasmodic.

130
GELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS (L.) AIT.

(LOGANIACEAE)

131
GENTIANA VILLOSA L.

(GENTIANACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sampson's snakeroot, marsh gentian,

straw-colored gentian, striped gentian.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial with several smooth ascending

stems. Leaves are oblanceolate. A cluster of crowded,

tubular, greenish-white to purplish-green flowers is found at

top of the plant.

FLOWERING PERIOD: August to October.

HABITAT: Meadows, brooksides, slopes, calcareous rocks,

woods, and pinelands.

HARVEST: Root in fall.

USES: The rhizome has been used to treat indigestion, gout,

and rheumatism; and it has also been used as an antiemetic.

Because of its bitter flavor, probably the most useful

application of this plant is as a tonic and astringent. In

Appalachia, a root tea is drunk as a tonic, and a piece of the

root is sometimes worn or carried to increase one's physical

powers.

132
GENTIANA VILLOSA L.

(GENTIANACEAE)

133
GERANIUM MACULATUM L.

(GERANIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Spotted geranium, alum bloom, alumroot,

American kind, American tormentil, astringent root, chocolate flower, common crane's bill, cranesbill, cranesbill geranium, crowfoot, dove's foot, old maid's-nightcap, shameface,

spotted cranesbill, stork bill, tormentil, wild cranesbill, wild

geranium.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial 1 to 2 feet in height, with a single

stem and thick rhizomes. Leaves are 3 to 6 inches across, and

deeply cleft. Produces 3 to 5 loose, rosy-purple to white

flowers, 1 inch across.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Rich woods and meadows.

HARVEST: Leaves and rhizomes in spring, just before plant

flowers, or in late summer.

USES: The leaves have been used as a vulnerary. However, the

roots and rhizomes, which contain much tannin, are very

astringent, antiseptic, styptic, and diuretic; and they have

been used to treat diarrhea. In Appalachia, a tea made from

the whole plant is used to treat dysentery and sore throat.

134
GERANIUM MACULATUM L.

(GERANIACEAE)

135
HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA L.

(HAMAMELIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Witch hazel, common witch hazel, hamamelis, long boughs, pistachio, snapping hazel, snapping

hazel-nut, southern witch hazel, spotted alder, striped alder,

tobacco wood, white hazel, winterbloom, wood tobacco.

DESCRIPTION: A crooked tree or shrub usually 8 to 15 feet

in height, with forking branches and smooth, brown bark.

The leaves are roundish to round-oval, 3 to 5 inches long,

thick, and borne on a short stalk. Yellow, thread-like flowers

appear in late fall or early winter after the leaves have fallen.

Fruits occur in clusters along the stem and mature the

following season, when they burst open and eject shiny black

seeds.

FLOWERING PERIOD: September to November.

HABITAT: Dry to moist woods.

HARVEST: Leaves, twigs, and bark in fall.

USES: The twigs, leaves, and bark are used to prepare witch

hazel extract, which has been used in shaving lotions and to

treat bruises and sprains. The fresh leaves of the plant contain

high concentrations of tannin, which makes them very

astringent.

136
HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA L.

(HAMAMELIDACEAE)

137
HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES (L.) PERS.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American pennyroyal, American falsepennyroyal, mock pennyroyal, pennyroyal, pennyroyal of

America, pudding grass, squaw mint, stinking balm, thickweed, tickweed.

DESCRIPTION: A branched annual that grows to 18 inches in

height. Leaves are erect, hairy, small, and ovate, with the

broad end at the base. Produces clusters of aromatic, tiny,

bluish flowers about 1/4 inch long.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Dry soils, woodlands, pastures, and meadows.

HARVEST: Leaves, flowering tops and small stems in full

bloom; plants just before flowering.

USES: This herb is used as an antispasmodic, rubifacient, and

stimulant. A tea is used in Appalachia for treating pneumonia.

138
HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES (L.) PERS.

(LAMIACEAE)

139
HEPÁTICA ACUTILOBA DC.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sharplobe hepática, heart Uverleaf, hepática, Uverleaf, Hverwort, noble liverwort, sharplobed liverleaf.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 9 inches in height.

Liver-shaped leaves have 3 to 5 lobes, and each leaf stalk has

one leaf. Produces a single white to purplish flower in spring.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to April.

HABITAT: Rich calcareous woods.

HARVEST: Leaves in the spring.

USES: This herb has been used as a tonic, mild astringent, and

diuretic.

140
HEPÁTICA ACUTILOBA DC.

(RANUNCULACEAE)
HYDRANGEA ARBORESCENS L.

(SAXIFRAGACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Smooth hydrangea, sevenbark, wild hydrangea.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub that grows to 10 feet in

height, with stems rising from base of the plant. It has large,

opposite, ovate leaves, and produces white or greenish

flowers at top of branches. Many varieties are recognized.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Rich woods, calcareous rocky slopes, banks of

streams.

HARVEST: Root in the fall.

USES: The roots and rhizomes have been used as diuretics,

cathartics, and tonics. Some authorities say that the drug has

value in preventing kidney stones.

142
HYDRANGEA ARBORESCENS L.

(SAXIFRAGACEAE)

143

413-947 O - 71 - 10
HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS L.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Goldenseal, eyebalm, eyebright, eyeroot,

goldenroot, ground raspberry, hydrastis, Indiana dye, Indian

paint, Indian plant, Indian turmeric, jaundice root, Ohio

curcuma, orange root, tumeric, wild turmeric, yellow eyewright, yellow paintroot, yellow puccoon, yellowroot, yellowwort.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 foot in height. It

haâ 1 stem with two 5- to 7-lobed leaves near the apex, which

is topped with 1 greenish-white flower. Several single leaf

stocks topped with flowers that have no petals rise from the

roots. Fruit looks like a raspberry but is inedible.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Rich woods.

HARVEST: Rootstock in fall; leaves or tops in late summer or

fall, after seeds ripen.

USES: The pulverized rhizomes and roots have been used a

long time to treat mouth ulcers, and as a hemostatic. This

preparation has also been used as a diuretic in catarrhal

conditions, and as an astringent for treating certain eye

conditions. In Appalachia, a root tea is used as a tonic.

144
HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS L.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

145
JEFFERSONIA DIPHYLLA (L.) PERS.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American twinleaf, ground squirrel pea,

helmet pod, rheumatism root, twinleaf, yellow root.

DESCRIPTION: An erect shrub that grows to 2 feet. Stalk is

topped by 2 identical, opposite, half-ovate leaf segments.

Flowers are white, 1 inch across. Fruit is a large capsule.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to April.

HABITAT: Rich, damp, shaded woods.

HARVEST: Root in fall.

USES: The rhizomes and roots have been used to treat chronic

rheumatism, dropsy, spasms, and as a gargle. In small doses,

the drug is an expectorant; in large doses it is an emetic. It

also has been considered a diuretic, alterative, and antispasmodic.

146
JEFFERSONIA DIPHYLLA (L.) PERS.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

147
JUGLANS CINÉREA L.

(JUGLANDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Butternut, filnut, lemonnut, oilnut, white

walnut.

DESCRIPTION: A tree usually 40 to 60 feet in height, with

light gray bark divided into broad, flat ridges by moderately

deep furrows. Leaves are compound with 11 to 17 leaflets

arranged opposite each other, from 2 to 3 inches long, and

with very short stems. Elliptical pointed fruit is iVi to 2i^

inches long and occurs in clusters of 2 to 5 or singly. The

strong smelling, sticky husk is covered with hairs and

contains an edible nut that has a hard, thick, deeply furrowed

shell.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Rich woods and along rivers on well drained soils.

HARVEST: Inner bark of root any time of year; leaves and

nuts in the fall.

USES: The bark has been used as a rubifacient and cathartic.

Oil extracted from the fruit is reportedly valuable in treating

tape worms and fungus infections. In Appalachia, a tea made

from the bark is used as a laxative.

148
JUGLANS CINÉREA L.

(JUGLANDACEAE)

^S(Ä^

149
JUGLANS NIGRA L.

(JUGLANDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Black walnut, American walnut, eastern

black walnut, walnut.

DESCRIPTION: A valuable tree that often grows to more than

120 feet in height, with almost black bark divided into rough

ridges by deep, narrow furrows. Leaflets are alternate,

commonly 12 to 23 per stem, finely toothed, and 3 to 3%

inches long. The fruit occurs singly or in clusters of 2 or 3,

and has a thick, somewhat fleshy, aromatic husk; the fruit is

roundish, about iVi to 2 inches in diameter, edible, and has a

hard, rough, deeply furrowed shell.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Rich woods and limestone soils.

HARVEST: Inner bark of root; leaves and nuts in fall.

USES: The root bark is cathartic. A leaf infusion is used as an

astringent and against bedbugs.

150
JUGLANS NIGRA L.

(JUGLANDACEAE)

151
JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS L.

(PINACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common juniper, dwarf juniper, gorst,

ground juniper, hackmatack, horse savin, juniper, juniper

bush, prostrate juniper.

DESCRIPTION: A small evergreen shrub or tree 12 to 30 feet

in height, low and spreading or upright. The bark of trunk is

shreddy and reddish brown. Needles are straight, sharppointed, ridged, and nearly at right angles to branchlets. Dark

purple fruit is round, fleshy, berry-like, and about î4 inch in

diameter.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March.

HABITAT: Dry soil.

HARVEST: Fruit in fall and winter.

USES: The fruit is used commercially in flavoring gin, and has

value as a diuretic and urinary antiseptic. In Europe, it is used

to treat arteriosclerosis.

152
JUNIPERUS COMMUAIS L.

(PINACEAE)

s«w

153
JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA L.

(PINACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Eastern redcedar, Carolina cedar, cedar,

cedar apple, evergreen, juniper, pencil cedar, red cedar, red

juniper, red savin, savin, Virginia cedar.

DESCRIPTION: A small erect evergreen tree 20 to 50 feet in

height. Trunk is lobed, buttressed, and has thin, red-tinged,

fibrous, peeling bark. Foliage has needle and scale form.

Produces smooth, round, berry-like bluish fruit vdth 1 or 2

seeds.

FLOWERING PERIOD: February to March.

HABITAT: Pasture land; dry, rarely wet, open woods; or

calcareous rocky slopes and barrens.

HARVEST: Leaves and mature fruits.

USES: The leaves have been used as a stimulant, emmenagogue,

and taeniafuge. In Appalachia, a mixture of nuts, leaves, and

twigs is boiled and inhaled as a treatment for bronchitis. In

New Mexico, some Spanish-speaking people use a boiled

mixture of bark and water to treat skin rash.

154
JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA L.

(PINACEAE)

155
LACTUCA SCARIOLA L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Prickly lettuce, compass plant, wild lettuce, wild opium.

DESCRIPTION: An annual or perennial that grows to 2 feet in

height. Flowers are yellow, but purple or bluish when dried.

Stem has a few prickles. Leaves are cleft, with lobes arranged

on either side of a common axis.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to October.

HABITAT: Cuhivated fields, waste or disturbed areas, dry soil,

and gardens.

HARVEST: Leaves in summer or fall; milky juice of the stem

in summer.

USES: The milky juice of this plant is extremely irritating to

the eyes. The whole herb has been used as a diuretic,

antispasmodic, and emollient.

156
LACTUCA SCARIOLA L.

(ASTERACEAE)

^^^'^

-;• ,^'

'^ *>-> «,. '^x--

157
LEONURUS CARDIACA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Motherwort, common motherwort, lion's

ear, lion's tail, lion's tart, throwwort.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 to 6 feet in

height. Stems are stout, with 2- to 5-inch long petioled leaves.

The palmately lobed leaves have sharp teeth. Flowers are

white to pink, and very hairy.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to August.

HABITAT: Waste places, roadsides, gardens, and pastures.

HARVEST: Herb at flowering time.

USES: The herb is used as a stimulant and emmenagogue. In

Europe it has been used to treat heart palpitations and

asthma.

158
LEONUROS CARDIACA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

413-947 O - 71 - 11

159
LINDERA BENZOIN (L.) BLUME

(LAURACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common spicebush, allspice bush, Benjamin bush, feverbush, spiceberry, spicebush, wild allspice.

DESCRIPTION: A deciduous shrub that grows to more than

15 feet in height. Leaves are 3 to 5 inches long, alternate,

elliptical, aromatic, with smooth margins. Produces greenish-

-yellow flowers in dense clusters and long, bright red berries.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to May.

HABITAT: Damp woods and brooksides.

HARVEST: Bark and twigs.

USES: The aromatic bark is used to treat dysentery, coughs,

and colds; and it is used as a vermifuge.

160
LINDERA BENZOIN (L.) BLUME

(LAURACEAE)

161
LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA L.

(HAMAMELIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sweetgum, American storax, American

sweetgum, busted, liquid storax, redgum, sapgum, star leaf

gum, storax tree, styrax.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that grows to 140 feet in height. Corky

ridges are often found on smaller branches. Leaves are

star-shaped, with 5 lobes. Fruit is in woody globular capsules.

Produces winged seeds.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to May.

HABITAT: Swampy woods, alluvial areas, and moist soils.

HARVEST: Bark; gum from wounds in the trunk.

USES: This tree is an important source of the drug storax, a

stimulating expectorant, weak antiseptic, desharpener for

tobacco and for treating scabies. Water- or brandy-soaked

twigs are chewed to clean the teeth in some areas of

Appalachia.

162
LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA L.

(HAMAMELIDACEAE)

163
LOBELIA INFLATA L.

(CAMPANULACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Indian tobacco, asthma weed, bladder

pod, bladder-podded lobelia, emetic herb, emetic weed,

eyebright, field lobelia, gagroot, Indian Tobacco lobelia,

lobeUa, obelia, pukeweed, tobacco lobelia, vomitwort, wild

tobacco.

DESCRIPTION: A branching annual that grows to 3 feet in

height. Leaves are 1 to 3 inches long. Produces small,

violet-pinkish-white flowers situated in axils of alternate

leaves, the bottom of which greatly inflate in fruiting stage.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Weedy fields, roadsides, woods, and in partial

shade.

HARVEST: Herb when in flower and forming seeds.

USES: The herb yields lobeline sulfate, which is used in

anti-tobacco therapy. It is also used as a stimulant, antiasthmatic, and expectorant in cases of bronchitis.

164
LOBELIA INFLATA L.

(CAMPANULACEAE)

165
LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Virginia bugleweed, bugleweed, buglewort,

carpenter's herb, gypsyweed, gypsywort, horehound, Paul's

betony, purple archangel, sweet bugleweed, water bugle,

water horehound, wolf foot, wood betony.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub with a 4-angled stem. Dark green or

purple-tinged leaves are somewhat ovate, coarsely toothed,

and narrowed at each end. Whorls of tubular flowers are

borne in the leaf axils.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to October.

HABITAT: Rich, moist soil, in fields or forests.

HARVEST: Herb during flowering time.

USES: This herb is used as an astringent and sedative, and

reportedly it has many other drug uses.

166
LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

167
MARRUBIUM VULGÄRE L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: White horehound, common hoarhound,

common horehound, hoarhound, horehound, houndsbane,

marrhue, marrub, marrubium, marvel, white hoarhound.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub that grows to 3 feet in height. Plant

branches from base. Produces 2-inch, bitter, aromatic,

round-ovate leaves that are whitish above and gray woolly

below.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to September.

HABITAT: Waste places, pastures, and old fields.

HARVEST: Leaves and small stems in May before blooming.

USES: This plant is used in many pulmonary ailments as an

expectorant, tonic, and emmenagogue. In Appalachia, the

leaves are used to make a cough syrup. In Europe, it is

considered a febrifuge and has been used to treat menstrual

pain.

168
MARRUBIUM VULGÄRE L.

(LAMIACEAE)

169
MENISPERMUM CANADENSE L.

(MENISPERMACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common moonseed, Canada moonseed,

maple vine, moonseed, Texas sarsaparilla, vine maple, yellow

parilla, yellow sarsaparilla.

DESCRIPTION: A woody, twining perennial vine that grows

from a thick root. Leaves are wide with 3 to 7 angles or lobes

around the outside margin. Produces bunches of white or

greenish flowers and small black grape-like berries.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to August.

HABITAT: Thickets and light woodlands where there is rich

soil; alluvial soils, rocky ravines, fence rows, and cool regions.

HARVEST: Rhizomes and roots during fall.

USES: The root has been used as a diuretic and a stomachic.

Some also claim it has value in arthritic conditions and blood

disorders.

170
MENISPERMUM CANADENSE L.

lENISPERMACEAE)

171
MENTHA PIPERITA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Peppermint, brandy mint, lamb mint,

lammint.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. It

has a pungent mint smell, and dark green, serrated leaves.

Produces purplish flowers in spike-like groups in axils and

terminally.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Late June to October.

HABITAT: Brook banks, wet meadows, and other damp

places.

HARVEST: Herb during early flowering time.

USES: The herb is a source of the volatile oil of peppermint.

Cultivated plants are grown for this product, mostly in the

Pacific Northwest coast area. In Appalachia, the herb has

been used generally as a flavoring agent and in treating colic

and indigestion. In Europe, it is considered a carminative and

is believed to increase bile secretion.

172
MENTHA PIPERITA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

173
MENTHA SPICATA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Spearmint, brown mint, common mint,

garden mint, lady's mint, sage of Bethlehem, Scotch mint,

Scotch spearmint.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. It

looks like other mints but is different in odor and taste from

the others. It is less pungent than M. piperita, and not as

cooling as peppermint. Leaves are oblong, lanceolate,

toothed, and about 2 inches long. Flowers are in long spikes

in the upper axils and terminally.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to October.

HABITAT: Wet places near settlements.

HARVEST: Flowering top and leaves.

USES: The herb is of value as a flavoring agent, carminative,

antiemetic, refrigerant; and it is used to treat colic.

174
MENTHA SPICATA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

413-947 O - 71 - 12

175
MITCHELLA REPENS L.

(RUBIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Partridgeberry, checkerberry, creepchequer berry, deer berry, hive vine, one berry, running box,

squawberry, squaw vine, twinberry, two-eyed berry, twoeyed chequer berry, winter clover.

DESCRIPTION: This creeping, perennial vine is distinguished

by small roundish evergreen leaves that are shiny above and

frequently have white lines. Produces scented white flowers

tinged with purple, and scarlet, 2-eyed berries.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Damp, moist, deciduous woods; often found associated with hemlock and rhododendron.

HARVEST: Herb in fall.

USES: This plant has been used frequently in ornamental

terraria. The bright, orange-red berry and dark green leaves

are very attractive. Therapeutically, the plant has been

described as astringent, diuretic, and toxic.

176
MITCHELLA REPENS L.

[RUBIACEAE)

177
MONARDA DIDYMA L.

(LABIATAE)

COMMON NAMES: Oswego beebalm, American bee balm, bee

balm, bergamot, horsemint, Indian's plume, low balm,

mountain balm, mountain mint, Oswego tea, red balm, rose

balm, scarlet balm.

DESCRIPTION: Stems sharply four-angled, to about 4 feet in

height, aromatic, simple branches to 6 inches long; leaves

ovate to lance-like, toothed, rounded at base, petioled, hairy,

serrate, 5 to 6 inches long; bright crimson flowers to 2 inches

long in large terminal clusters at top of plant; perennial.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Rich woods, thickets, bottomlands, and stream

banks.

HARVEST: Herb when flowering.

USES: This herb is described as being a rubefacient, stimulant

and carminative. The U. S. Dispensatory lists it as being

anthelmintic. This plant is a commercial source of the drug

Thymol, which is of value as an antiseptic and flavor.

178
MONARDA DIDYMA L.

(LABIATAE)

179
MYRICA CERíFERA L.

(MYRICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Southern wax myrtle, American vegetable

tallow, American vegetable wax, bayberry, bayberry tallow,

bayberry waxtree, bearing myrica, candleberry, candleberry

myrtle, myrtle, southern bayberry, tallow shrub, waxberry,

wax myrtle.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub or small tree that grows to

35 feet in height, with waxy rough branchlets. The narrow

evergreen leaves taper at both ends. Flowers are in form of

short scaly catkins. Produces grayish berries.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Poor, dry areas particularly; pine barrens and low

woods.

HARVEST: Root bark in fall; roots are gently heated and bark

stripped.

USES: The fruit is the main source of wax used in making

candles. The root bark is astringent and emetic.

180
MYRICA CERíFERA L.

(MYRICACEAE)

181
NASTURTIUM OFFICINALE, R. BR/

(BRASSICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Watercress, nasturtium, true watercress.

DESCRIPTION: A floating perennial. The large stems are

freely rooting, thick, and hollow. Leaves are alternate and

pinnately divided. Leaflets are entire.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to October.

HABITAT: In thick beds in cold, flowing water of ditches,

small rills, slow streams, brooks, and ponds.

HARVEST: Herb, at any time.

USES: This floating herb is widely used as a fresh edible green.

The leaves are very rich in vitamins A and C. Spanishspeaking people in New Mexico eat the plant as a treatment

for kidney and heart trouble, and use it crushed in cold water

as a treatment for tuberculosis. In Europe it is used to

increase urine flow and to combat rheumatism and bronchitis. Pregnant women are warned not to use it because it may

cause abortion.

^Synonym—Radícula nasturtium-aquaticum (L) Britten & Rendle.

182
NASTURTIUM OFFICINALE, R. BR/

(BRASSICACEAE)

183
NEPETA CATARíA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Catnip, catmint, catnep, catrup, catwort,

field balm, nip.

DESCRIPTION: An erect perennial that grows to 3 feet in

height. Stem is whitish and downy. Leaves are heart-shaped,

opposite, with long petioles, coarsely toothed, and about 2 to

3 inches long. The tubular flowers are 14 to Vi inch long,

whitish with purple dots, and crowded toward the tips of the

stems in dense spikes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to September.

HABITAT: Dooryards, roadsides, and waste places.

HARVEST: Leafy flowering tops; herb when in full flower.

USES: As a therapeutic agent, it is used as an aromatic,

stimulant, and carminative, particularly for infants. It has

been used in cough remedies, and as an emmenagogue and

refrigerant. The stimulating action of this plant upon cats is

well known. In Appalachia, a tea made from the plant is used

for treating colds, nervous conditions, stomach ailments, and

hives; dried leaves and stalks are smoked for catarrh. In

Europe it is used to bring on delayed menstruation.

184
NEPETA CATARíA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

185
PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM L.

(ARALIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American ginseng, dwarf groundnut, five

fingers, garantogen, garentoquere, gensang, ginseng, grantogen, jinshard, man's health, manroot, ninsin, redberry, sang,

tartar root.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial about 6 to 8 inches long, with 2

to 4 leaves that are divided into 5 leaflets arranged palmately

at the end of each leaf stalk. The small terminal stalk

produces inconspicuous flowers and red berries. Roots are

large and aromatic.

FLOWERING PERIOD: August.

HABITAT: Rich and cool woods.

HARVEST: Roots at 3 to 5 years, in the fall.

USES: The therapeutic value of this plant has never been

established in this country, yet this is one of the most

valuable woodland crops in Appalachia. The cleaned dried

roots are used in the Orient as a cure-all. Because ginseng

roots branch to resemble the human body, they are revered

and used as a medication for any ill. In China, the roots are

used in the preparations of love potions and talismans. The

largest amount harvested in Appalachia is shipped to Hong

Kong, Singapore, and other areas where there are large

Chinese colonies. Soviet Union scientists claim to have

isolated various compounds that have therapeutic value. In

Appalachia, a tea made of the root is used as a tonic and

aphrodisiac.

186
PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM L.

(ARALIACEAE)

187
PASSIFLORA INCARNATA L.

(PASSIFLORACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Maypop passionflower, apricot vine, maypop, maypop herb, passionflower, passion vine.

DESCRIPTION: A vine that grows to 25 feet in height. Leaves

are alternate, composed of 3—or rarely 5—finely toothed oval

lobes. Flowers are large, flesh-colored, 2 inches across, with

pink or purple corona. The fruit, which is 2 to 3 inches long,

is smooth, yellow, and ovate.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Thickets, fence lines, edge of woods, and wastelands.

HARVEST: Herbs, leaves, roots, flowering tops, and fruit

during surnmer.

USES: This plant has been used as an antispasmodic, sedative,

and a treatment for neuralgia and epilepsy. Also, the drug has

been used to reduce blood pressure and to increase the rate

of respiration. It is also reputed to be an aphrodisiac,

particularly for elderly men. In Bermuda, the vine is used as a

perfume base.

188
PASSIFLORA INCARNATA L.

(PASSIFLORACEAE)

189
PHYTOLACCA AMERICANA L.

(PHYTOLACCACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Pokeweed, American nightshade, cancer

jalap, cancerroot, chongras, coakum, cocum, cokan, common

pokeberry, crowberry, garget, inkberry, jalap, pigeonberry,

pocan, pocan bush, poke, pokeberry, pokeroot, red-ink plant,

red wood, scoke, skoke, Virginia poke.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 9 feet in height. It

has a thick, hollow, red stem, and an unpleasant smell. Leaves

are ovate, entire, long, and petioled. Flowers are white to

pinkish in terminal racemes. Produces spikes or racemes of

dark purple berries.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Rich, low ground, old fields, and recently cleared

areas and roadsides.

HARVEST: Root in fall; ripe berries.

USES: Young shoots, when properly prepared in spring, are

edible. Consumption of the plant is dangerous because it

becomes poisonous as it matures. Medically it is a slow

emetic and a purgative, with some narcotic properties. The

dried root is reported valuable in treating hemorrhoids. In

Appalachia, pokeberry wine is thought to help alleviate

rheumatism; and in some areas dried fruits are used as a

poultice on sores.

190
PHYTOLACCA AMERICANA L.

(PHYTOLACCACEAE)

413-947 0-71-13

191
PINUS PALUSTRIS MILL.

(PINACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Longleaf pine, fat pine, Georgia pine,

hard pine, heart pine, longleaf yellow pine, longstraw pine,

pitch pine, rosemary pine, southern pine, southern yellow

pine, turpentine pine, yellow pine.

DESCRIPTION: A large evergreen tree that grows to 80 to 120

feet in height, with coarse, scaly bark. Needles are a

distinctive characteristic; they are about 8 to 18 inches long,

and in groups of 3. Cones are 6 to 10 inches long, and

somewhat cylindrical. Young form of tree is columnar,

unbranched, and has very leafy trunk.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to April.

HABITAT: Sandy soil.

HARVEST: Sap in early April, and gum about last of April or

first of May.

USES: This pine in southern Appalachia is a valuable source of

turpentine, pine oil, tar, pitch, and rosin. The uses of

turpentine oil as a rubefacient are well known. Rosin is

widely used by athletes to protect their hands, and by

violinists to prevent the bow from slipping and to produce

better vibration. Pine tar from this source is used therapeutically for the same purpose as white pine tar. Pitch is of great

value to the naval stores industry.

192
PINUs PALUSTRIS MILL.

(PINACEAE)

193
PINUS STROBUS L.

(PINACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Eastern white pine, American deal pine,

American white pine, New England pine, northern pine,

northern white pine, soft deal-pine, soft pine, spruce pine,

weymouth pine, white pine.

DESCRIPTION: An evergreen tree that sometimes grows to

200 feet in height. The soft bluish needles, which are 3 to 5

inches long and found in groups of 5, distinguish it from

other pines. The cones are 4 m, to 8 inches long, thi

cigar-shaped, and often curved.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Woods, old fields.

HARVEST: Inner bark, rossed or natural.

USES: The bark is used as an astringent and expectorant; the

wood has been used to produce white pine tar, which has

value as an antiseptic, expectorant, and protective.

194
PINUS STROBUS L.

(PINACEAE)

195
PLANTAGO L. SPP.

(PLANTAGINACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Plantain, black psyllium, blond psyllium,

fleaseed, French psyllium, Indian plantago, plantago, psyllium, psyllium seed, ribgrass, ribwort, Spanish psyllium.

DESCRIPTION: A low, weedy perennial, with broadly elliptical to linear, prominently ribbed leaves. Flowers grow tightly

at apex on erect spikes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to October.

HABITAT: Roadsides, dooryards, lawns, poor soils, fields, and

woods.

HARVEST: Seeds and leaves.

USES: The seeds are valuable as a bulk laxative. Soaking the

seed in water causes it to exude a clear sticky gum, which has

been used in manufacturing lotions and hair-wave sets. Some

authorities report that the leaves are used as a vulnerary. In

Appalachia, wet leaves of the plant are used as a poultice for

snakebite and wounds; crushed fresh leaves are rubbed on

wounds and skin eruptions, and are used for treating rectal

itch. In Appalachia the leaves are used to make a tonic tea.

196
PLANTAGO L. SPP.

(PLANTAGINACEAE)

197
PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM L.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common mayapple, devil's apple, duck's

foot, ground lemon, hog apple, Indian apple, mandrake,

mayapple, podophyllum, racoonberry, umbrella plant, vegetable calomel, vegetable mercury, wild jalap, wild lemon, wild

mandrake, yellowberry.

DESCRIPTION: An erect perennial that grows to about 1 to

1^2 feet in height. Two umbrella-like, palmately lobed leaves

grow at the top of each plant, rarely 3. The plant produces a

white flower in fork of leaves, and ovate yellow fruit.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to May.

HABITAT: Deciduous forests in mountain areas, rich woods,

thickets, and pastures; prefers shade.

HARVEST: Rootstock in fall and sometimes in spring before

leaves appear.

USES: Improper use of this plant could be very dangerous. The

roots and rhizomes are used as a purgative. A resin from the

plant, called podophyllin, has been used to treat venereal

warts. The resin is extremely allergenic; it exhibits anti-tumor

activity. In Appalachia, a tea of bark and roots is used to

treat constipation.

198
PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM L.

(BERBERIDACEAE)

199
POLYGALA SENEGA L.

(POLYGALACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Seneca-snakeroot polygala, milkwort,

mountain flax, rattlesnake root, senecaroot, séneca snakeroot, senega root, senega snakeroot, seneka snakeroot.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 2 feet in height.

Several stems arise from crown, and have numerous alternate

linear-shaped leaves. Dense spikes of white or pinkish flowers

tinged with green terminate the stem. Produces seeds in

capsules.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to July.

HABITAT: Dry woods on limestone, rocky soils, and higher

altitudes.

HARVEST: Root in autumn. (Knotty crown must be removed

first.)

USES: The plant is reportedly used as an emetic, purgative,

diuretic, expectorant, and tonic.

200
POLYGALA SENEGA L.

(POLYGALACEAE)

201
POLYGONATUM BIFLORUM (WALT.) ELL.

(LILIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Small solomonseal, conquer-John, dwarf

Solomon's seal, hairy Solomon's seal, sealwort, Solomon's seal.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. It

can be distinguished from Smilacina racemosa by the 1 to 4

flowers that hang from the axils of the leaves, which are

about 4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and hairy below. Berries

are globular, black or blue.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Dry to moist, sandy, loamy areas, or in rocky

woods.

HARVEST: Root in fall.

USES: Roots and rhizomes are mildly astringent, diuretic,

emetic, and tonic.

202
POLYGONATUM BIFLORUM (WALT.) ELL.

(LILIACEAE)

203
POLYGONUM HYDROPIPER L.

(POLYGONACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Marshpepper smartweed, arsmart, biting

knotweed, biting parsicaria, biting tongue, common smartweed, doorweed, lakeweed, pepperplant, red knees, red

shanks, red sharks, sickleweed, smartweed, water pepper,

water smartweed.

DESCRIPTION: An annual that grows to 1 to 2 feet in height.

It is erect and branched at base. Stems are reddish; and leaves

are narrowly lanceolate and alternate, with smooth margins 1

to 4 inches long. Produces numerous small greenish flowers

that are formed close together on the ends of nodding

terminal spikes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to October.

HABITAT: Damp soil.

HARVEST: Herb.

USES: The herb is a diuretic and has been used in certain

uterine disorders. In Europe it is used as a hemostatic drug to

control internal and hemorrhoidal bleeding.

204
POLYGONUM HYDROPIPER L.

(POLYGONACEAE)

205
POPULUS BALSAMIFERA L.

(SALICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Balsam poplar, balm buds, balm of Gilead,

Carolina poplar, cottonwood, hackmatack, poplar balsam,

tacamahac poplar, tackamahac.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that may reach 100 feet in height;

sometimes the trunk is 6 feet in diameter. The broad, pointed

leaves are 3 to 6 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide; they are

rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, finely toothed,

shiny dark green above, pale green often with rusty brown

patches below. The buds and twigs are brownish red, and the

large buds are very resinous and fragrant.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to April.

HABITAT: River banks, swamps, wastelands, and river

bottoms.

HARVEST: Winter buds in February and March before

opening.

USES: A tincture of the bark has reportedly been used to treat

infections of the chest, kidneys, stomach, and for rheumatism, gout, and scurvy. The buds have been used as a

vulnerary and pectoral. In Europe the fresh flowers are

steeped in cold water, then strained and drunk to purify the

blood.

206
POPULUS BALSAMIFERA L.

(SALICACEAE)

413-947 O - 71 - 14

207
PRUNELLA VULGARIS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Heal-all, blue curls, brownwort, carpenter's herb, carpenterweed, common selflieal, dragonhead,

hookweed, self-heal, sickleweed, sicklewort.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 2 feet in height.

Usually the plant is much tufted, and sometimes it is

horizontal. Leaves are round and bract-like. Violet purple

blooms, about 1/2 inch long, are found in the axils of the

leaves, in a close spike or head.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to October.

HABITAT: Roadsides, lawns, fields, pastures, wastelands, and

grasslands.

HARVEST: Herb from May to September, at flowering time.

USES: The herb is used as an aromatic and carminative. It has

been used also as a gargle, and in treating hemorrhage and

diarrhea.

208
PRUNELLA VULGARIS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

209
PRUNUS SEROTINA EHRH.

(ROSACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Black cherry, black choke, cabinet cherry,

choke cherry, mountain black cherry, rum cherry, Virginia

prune bark, whicky cherry, wild black cherry, wild cherry.

DESCRIPTIONS: A valuable tree that grows to 100 feet in

height and has a straight trunk covered with rough, black

bark. Inner bark is aromatic. The young branches are smooth

and reddish. Leaves are shiny, smooth, and finely toothed, 2

to 5 inches long. Small white flowers occur in long drooping

clusters at the end of the branches, followed by clusters of

round, black berries that are edible but bitter.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Along fence rows, roadsides, streamsides, pastures,

and in dry woods.

HARVEST: Young, thin bark; and bark from older trees after

it has been rossed; also, fruit when ripe.

USES: The bark is used primarily as a flavoring agent. The drug

is an excellent expectorant. Appalachian wild cherry bark tea

is used for coughs, colds, and cholera.

210
PRUNUS SEROTINA EHRH.

(ROSACEAE)

Wm

i.) W ^'- 9^^

4

211
QUERCUS ALBA L.

(FAGACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: White oak, common white oak, fork-leaf

white oak, ridge white oak, stave oak, stone oak, tanner's

oak.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that is usually 60 to 80 feet in height,

but sometimes reaches 150 feet. The bark is a light ashy gray,

variable in appearance—from loosely attached plates on

young trees to narrow, rounded ridges with deep fissures on

old trees. The smooth thin leaves, which are 5 to 9 inches

long, have short stems and are usually divided into 7 to 9

smooth, rounded lobes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to May.

HABITAT: Widely distributed in hardwood forests of the

eastern United States.

HARVEST: Inner bark, at any time; bark from older trees

should be collected in spring.

USES: The pollen is reportedly allergenic. Because the bark

contains tannins, it is used as an astringent and antiseptic. In

Appalachia, a bark tea is used to treat burns and sore mouth.

A chartreuse dye is obtained from the bark.

212
QUERCUS ALBA L.

(FAGACEAE)

213
RHUS GLABRA L.

(ANACARDIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Smooth sumach, common sumac, Pennsylvania sumach, scarlet sumac, shernoke, sumac, upland

sumach, vinegar tree.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or small tree that grows to about 15

feet in height. Leaves are 1 to 3 feet long, with 11 to 31

leaflets; each leaflet is 2 to 4 inches long and about 1 to 2

inches wide, pointed and sharp-toothed. Twigs are smooth.

Produces greenish yellow flowers in clumps at branch ends,

and roundish, flattened, bright red fruits or berries that are

hairy and sticky.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Old fields, power line cuts, roadsides, meadows,

and pastures.

HARVEST: Bark of stem and roots, ripe fruit, and leaves.

USES: The dried ripe fruit of sumac is valuable as a source of

tannic acid. Preparations of these fruits are effective as

astringents, antidiuretics, and tonics. In Appalachia, leaves

are smoked to treat asthma. The stems produce a yellow dye.

214
RHUS GLABRA L.

(ANACARDIACEAE)

215
RUBUS SPP. L.

(ROSACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Blackberry, brambleberry, dewberry, raspberry.

DESCRIPTION: A prickly, shrubby or viny perennial that

produces 5-petaled, white flowers. Fruit is either black or

red.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to August.

HABITAT: Old fields, waste lands, pastures, fence rows, forest

borders.

HARVEST: Bark, fruit, leaves, root, and root bark.

USES: The roots and rhizomes of this plant have been used as

astringents because of their high tannin content. In Appalachia, a tea made of roots is used to stop secretions. A fruit

juice and wine made from the berries is used to control

diarrhea. A tea made from the bark of wild raspberry is used

to control dysentery.

216
RUBUS SPP. L.

[ROSACEAE)

217
RUMEX CRISPUS L.

(POLYGONACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Curly dock, bitter dock, curled dock,

dock, garden patience, narrow dock, sour dock, yellow dock.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 5 feet in height.

Leaves are 6 to 12 inches long, linear, and curly-edged.

Produces yellow to green flowers in panicles, and dense

spikes of winged triangular seeds.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to August.

HABITAT: Pastures, fields, and waste lands.

HARVEST: Roots, in late summer and fall.

USES: The roots of this plant are reportedly valuable as an

astringent and mild laxative. In Appalachia, the root is placed

in vinegar and the wash is used to treat ringworm; the leaves

are used in a poultice to treat hives. The Indians used the

root for a yellow dye.

218
RUMEX CRISPUS L.

(POLYGONACEAE)

219
sALIX ALBA L.

(SALICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: White willow, European white willow.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that grows to 80 feet in height, with

spreading and drooping branches. Branchlets are often silky

white when young; later they turn olive-brown. Leaves are 1

1/2 to 4 inches long, very narrow, sharp-pointed, very finely

toothed, shiny green above and silky white below. Flowers

occur in catkins.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Stream banks, roadsides, and shaded moist areas.

HARVEST: Bark during flowering time; buds in spring.

USES: The therapeutic value of white willow buds is similar to

that of Populus species. The bark is reportedly an expectorant, hemostatic, astringent, and tonic. In Appalachia, leaves

and bark of different willows are used in a tea to break up

fever.

220
SALIX ALBA L.

(SALICACEAE)

221
sALIX NIGRA MARSH.

(SALICACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Black willow, pussy willow, swamp

willow, willow.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that often grows to 40 feet in height,

but may reach 100 to 120 feet. Leaves are very narrow, 3 to

6 inches long and up to 3/4 inch wide, sharp-pointed, finely

toothed, short-stemmed. Twigs are slender, reddish brown,

and usually brittle. Produces male and female flowers in

separate catkins; male catkins are 1 to 2 inches long and the

female 1 1/2 to 3 inches long.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to June.

HABITAT: Banks of streams, lake shores, and in rich, low

woods.

HARVEST: Strip bark with buds from 2- or 3-year-old

branches in spring.

USES: The buds and bark are used for the same purposes as

those of S. alba.

222
sALIX NIGRA MARSH.

(SALICACEAE)

223

413-947 O - 71 - 15
SALVIA OFFICINALIS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Garden sage, meadow sage, sage, scarlet

sage, true sage.

DESCRIPTION: A fuzzy perennial that grows to 2 1/2 feet in

height. Leaves are lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, with

rounded teeth, narrowing at base to long petioles. Flowers

are in whorls of 4 to 8 in terminal spikes, blue or white.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Dumps, waste lands, and gardens.

HARVEST: Herb at flowering time; leaves.

USES: Sage reportedly has many therapeutic uses. The drug is

an astringent and carminative. In Appalachia, it was thought

to serve as a laxative and a gargle; and it was used to treat

baldness, loose teeth, and gas. European research suggests

estrogen is present but has not been isolated. It has been used

to help achieve regularity of menstrual period. However, its

major use is for culinary purposes.

224
SALVIA OFFICINALIS L.

(LAMIACEAE)

225
SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS L.

(PAPAVERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Bloodroot, coonroot, pauson, puccoon,

puccoon root, red Indian paint, red puccoon, redroot,

snakebite, sweet slumber, tetterwort, turmeric, white puccoon.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 6 to 14 inches in

height, with a solitary leaf-stem. Leaves are palmately lobed

around outer edge. In early sping, produces white flowers 1

to 2 inches in width. A distinctive characteristic of this plant

is the red juice produced by the root.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Deep, cool, moist, deciduous woodland slopes; rich

woods.

HARVEST: Rootstock at time of flowering, in late summer or

early fall.

USES: This plant is extremely poisonous. It is a source of

morphine, and improper use should be avoided. The drug is

an emetic, laxative, and emmenagogue; and because of its

expectorant qualities, it has been used to treat chronic

bronchitis. The plant is used both as a pain reliever and a

sedative. When combined with oak bark, the roots give a red

dye. In Appalachia, a piece of bloodroot is sometimes carried

as a charm to ward off evil spirits.

226
SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS L.

(PAPAVERACEAE)
SASSAFRAS ALBIDUM (NUTT.) NEES

(LAURACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sassafras, ague tree, cinnamon wood,

common sassafras, red sassafrass, saxifras, smelling stick,

white sassafras.

DESCRIPTION: A tree that grows to 40 feet in height. Twigs

are green and produce leaves of 3 different shapes: 3-lobed,

2-lobed or mitten-shaped, and unlobed. All parts of the tree

have a spicy aroma. Fragrant, yellowish-green flowers are

borne in clusters. Male and female flowers are usually borne

on different trees. In September the female flowers develop

into dark blue 1-seeded berries, about pea size, that are borne

on a thick red stalk.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to April.

HABITAT: Along fence rows; in open woods and abandoned

fields, and on dry ridges.

HARVEST: Root bark in spring and autumn; entire root in

fall.

USES: The root bark can be used to prepare a tea. Root

material can be distilled to make sassafras oil, which is used

mainly as a flavoring agent in beverages, confectionery tooth

paste, and the like. The tea has been used as a diaphoretic,

stimulant, diuretic, and carminative; and it is used in

Appalachia to treat bronchitis. The bark is reportedly used

also as an insect repellent. Colonial Americans were advised

to chew the bark of this tree to break the tobacco habit.

Sassafras leaves have been used as a dye to make a soft yellow

tan. And some research suggests that, under certain conditions, the leaves may be carcinogenic.

228
SASSAFRAS ALBIDUM (NUTT.) NEES

(LAURACEAE)

229
SCROPHULARIA MARILANDICA L.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Maryland figwort, brownwort, bullwort,

Carpenter's square, figwort, great pilewort, heal-all. Holme's

weed, kernelwort, knotted root, murrian grass, pilewort,

scrofula plant, square stalk, stinking Christopher.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 9 feet in height,

with 4-angled stems. Leaves are opposite, thin, 3 to 12 inches

long, with toothed margins, ovate or rounded and broad at

base, tapering to a point at tip. The small reddish-brown

flowers are loosely arranged on irregular thin branches at the

top of the plant.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to October.

HABITAT: Rich woods and thickets, open woodlands, fallow

fields, and roadsides.

HARVEST: Leaves, roots, and herb at flowering time.

USES: The herb is used as a tonic, diuretic, diaphoretic, and in

reducing hemorrhoids.

230
SCROPHULARIA MARILANDICA L.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

231
SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Sideflowering skullcap, American skullcap,

blue pimernel, blue skullcap, helmet flower, hooded willow

herb, hoodwort, mad-dog, mad-dog skullcap, mad-dog weed,

madweed, skullcap.

DESCRIPTION: An erect widely-branched perennial that

grows to 30 inches in height. The stem is slender and 4-sided.

Leaves are thin, 1 to 4 inches long, ovate, pointed, coarsely

serrated, and opposite. The flowers are blue, 2-lipped, and

arranged along spikes in each of the upper leaf axils.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to October.

HABITAT: Alluvial thickets, meadows, swampy woods, moist

areas, and shaded areas.

HARVEST: Herb in early summer.

USES: The plant has been used for treating hydrophobia, but

without much success. It is reputed to be a nervine, tonic,

diuretic, and antispasmodic.

232
SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA L.

(LAMIACEAE)

233
SENECIO AUREUS L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Golden ragwort, butterweed, cocashweed,

coughweed, false valerian, female regulator, golden groundsel,

golden senecio, groundsel, liferoot, ragwort, squawweed,

swamp squawweed, uncum, waxweed, wild valerian.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 to 2 1/2 feet in

height, with 1 to several erect flowering stems. The slender

basal leaves are heart-shaped and long petioled (to 6 inches) ;

the rest of the stem leaves are variously cleft, with lobes

arranged on either side of the main mid-vein of the leaf. The

spring-blooming composite flowers are yellow. The roots are

characterized by horizontal creeping.

FLOWERING PERIOD: March to June.

HABITAT: Rich calcareous woods and bottoms, upland

swamps, and humid areas.

HARVEST: Root; herb in May when flowering; entire plant

before flowering.

USES: As the common name, "coughweed", would indicate,

the herb is an expectorant and pectoral. In addition to these

qualities, it is listed as an emmenagogue and vulnerary.

234
SENECIO AUREUS L.

(ASTERACEAE)

235
SOLANUM CAROLINENSE L.

(SOLANACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Horse nettle, apple of Sodom, ball nettle,

bull nettle, Carolina horse nettle, nightshade, sand brier,

tread-softly.

DESCRIPTION: A prickly erect perennial that grows to 3 feet

in height. Leaves are shallowly lobed pinnately, broad, with

yellow thorns on veins beneath. Flowers are pale violet to

white. Fruit is a yellow berry.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to September.

HABITAT: Sandy openings, dry fields, waste lands, and roadsides.

HARVEST: Berries, leaves, and rootstock in the fall.

USES: This plant is extremely poisonous. The berries, when

properly prepared, have been used as diuretics, antispas-'

modics, anodynes; and according to the U. S. Dispensatory,

they have also been used in a treatment for epilepsy.

236
SOLANUM CAROLINENSE L.

(SOLANACEAE)

237
SORBUS AMERICANA" MARSH.

(ROSACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: American mountainash, American rowan

tree, American service tree, dogberry, Indian mozemize,

life-of-man, masse-misse, missy-massy, missey-moosey, mountain ash, mountain sumach, quick beam, round tree, roundwood, wild ashe, wine tree, witchwood.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or small tree that grows to 30 feet in

height. Bark is smooth and light gray. Compound leaves

consist of 11 to 17 narrow, pointed, toothed leaflets about 1

1/4 to 4 inches long. White flowers appear in dense, round, or

flatish clusters about 3 to 6 inches across. Large, dense,

showy clusters of bright red berries about the size of peas

appear in late fall.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to July.

HABITAT: Evergreen forests and waste areas.

HARVEST: Bark and fruit.

USES: The berries have been used to treat scurvy and as a

vemifuge. Bark preparations have been used for biliousness.

* Synonym = Pyrus americana (Marsh) D.C.

238
SORBUS AMERICANA* MARSH.

(ROSACEAE)

413-947 0-71-16

239
SPIGELIA MARILANDICA L.

(LOGANIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Pinkroot spigelia, American wormroot,

Carolina pink, Carolina pinkroot, Indian pink, Maryland

pinkroot, perennial wormgrass, pinkroot, snakeroot, star

bloom, unstilla, wormgrass.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 to 2 feet in

height. Leaves are opposite, without a petiole, lanceolate to

broadly oval. Flowers are funnel-like, red on the outside,

yellow on the inside, arranged on one side of a single spike.

The funnel forms five lobes at the open end.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to June.

HABITAT: Rich woods.

HARVEST: Rootstock after flowering in early fall.

USES: The root is used as a vermifuge, anthelmintic, and

cathartic. Some authorities say it is also a narcotic. In

Appalachia, a tea made from the leaves is used to aid

digestion.

240
SPIGELIA MARILANDICA L.

(LOGANIACEAE)

241
STELLARIA MEDÍA (L.) CYRILLO

(CARYOPHYLLACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Chickweed, adder's mouth, common

chickweed, satin flower, starwort, stitchwort, tongue grass,

white bird's eye.

DESCRIPTION: An annual that grows to 12 inches in height.

The plant is weak, with matted to upright trailing stems.

Lower and median leaves are ovate; upper leaves are sessile

and highly variable. Solitary flowers have 4 to 5 star-shaped

white petals that are 2-cleft.

FLOWERING PERIOD: January to March.

HABITAT: Found in dooryards, cultivated ground, waste land,

damp woods, thickets, and gardens.

HARVEST: Herb.

USES: The herb is classed as a refl-igerant, demulcent, and

expectorant.

242
STELLARIA MEDIA (L.) CYRILLO

(CARYOPHYLLACEAE)

243
STILLINGIA SYLVATICA L.

(EUPHORBIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Queensdelight, cock-up-hat, cocyshat,

marcony, nettle potato, queen's delight stillingia, queen's

root, silver leaf, stillingia, yaw root.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. It is

a milky-juiced plant with fleshy, crowded, leathery, stemless

leaves that vary in shape: some are round, others sharply

sawtoothed. Flowers are yellow.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Sandy, dry soil, pine barrens, old fields, and forest

openings.

HARVEST: Rootstock in August or September.

USES: The root has been classed as emetic, cathartic, and

diuretic.

244
STILLINGIA SYLVATICA L.

(EUPHORBIACEAE)

245
TANACETUM VULGÄRE L.

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Tansy, bitter buttons, common tansy,

double tansy, English cost, ginger plant, golden buttons, hind

heal, parsley fern, scented fern.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial 2 to 3 feet in height, with erect

unbranched stems that grow in clumps. Pungent, aromatic,

fern-like foliage is a common characteristic. Leaves are

alternate, topped with flat heads of yellow, tubular, buttonlike flowers.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Roadsides and borders of fields.

HARVEST: Herb.

USES: The herb has been used as an anthelmentic, emmenagogue, and stomachic. The dried flower heads are used

frequently in flower arrangements.

246
TANACETUM VULGÄRE L.

ASTERACEAE)

"' "^

^-l-
TEPHROSIA VIRGINIANA (L.) PERS.

(FABACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Virginia tephrosia, catgut, devil's shoe

strings, goat's rue, hoary pea, rabbit pea, turkey pea.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 2 feet in height.

Stem is erect, simple, and leafy to the top, with narrowly

elliptic leaflets arranged compoundly on either side of main

stem, which is hairy. Flowers are large and densely cluttered

on a terminal spike; they are yellowish white marked with

purple. The podlike fruits are heavy and hairy, about 2 inches

long.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Mid-May to August.

HABITAT: Dry, sandy woods and openings.

HARVEST: Herb in summer; roots in fall.

USES: The root of this plant is used as an insecticide and,

according to the U. S. Dispensatory, as a vermifuge.

248
TEPHROSIA VIRGINIANA (L.) PERS.

(FABACEAE)

•^^

249
TIARELLA CORDIFOLIA L.

(SAXIFRAGACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Allegheny foamflower, coalwort, coolwort, false bitterwort, false miterwort, foam flower, gem

fruit.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 foot in height.

The heart-shaped leaves are broad, shallowly lobed, toothed,

4 inches across. Flower petals are lanceolate, white or

pinkish, and arranged on a spike-like stem.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to July.

HABITAT: Rich woodlands and uplands.

HARVEST: Herb during flowering; root in fall.

USES: This herb is reputed to be useful as a tonic and diuretic.

The root is classed as a diuretic and pectoral.

250
TIARELLA CORDIFOLIA L.

(SAXIFRAGACEAE)

251
TRIFoLIUM PRATENSE L.

(FABACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Red clover, broadleaved clover, cleaver

grass, common clover, common red clover, cow clover,

meadow clover, purple clover, sweet clover.

DESCRIPTION: A biennial or perennial legume, with longpetioled, tri-foliolate leaves, each with 3 oval-shaped leaflets.

The gobular to ovate flower heads are dense and roseate

colored.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to September.

HABITAT: Roadsides, clearings, turf, fields, and meadows.

HARVEST: Flowers and herb.

USES: The flowers of this plant are therapeutically used as an

antispasmodic, expectorant, sedative, and vulnerary. The U.

S. Dispensatory reports that the flowers have been used in

some anti-asthma cigarettes. In central Europe, clover has

been used to regulate digestive functions, to improve the

appetite, and to treat liver ailments.

252
TRIPoLIUM PRATENSE L.

(FABACEAE)

^

1^

253
TRILISA ODORATISSIMA (WALT.) CASS

(ASTERACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Vanilla trilisa, deerstongue, dogtongue,

vanilla leaf, vanilla plant.

DESCRIPTION: An erect, stout perennial that grows to 2 to 3

feet in height. Basal leaves are large, smooth, spatula-like,

with stem-clasping leaves diminishing as they ascend the

stem. Leaves are alternate, and up to 10 inches long. FoHage

is vanilla-scented. Flowers are in flat-topped purplish clusters.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Open, low pine forests of the Southeast, damp

fields, and barrens.

HARVEST: Leaves in early summer to fall.

USES: The herb has no reported drug use. However, it is used

as a blend with tobacco, and because it is high in coumarin it

has been used to flavor medicinal compounds.

254
TRILISA ODORATISSIMA (WALT.) CASS

(ASTERACEAE)

255

413-947 O - 71 - 17
TRILLIUM ERECTUM L.

(LILIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Purple trillium, bath flower, bathwort,

bethroot, bettroot, birthroot, birthwort, bumblebee root,

daffydown-dilly, dishcloth, ground lily, illscented trillium,

illscented wakerobin, Indian balm, Indian shamrock, lamb's

quarters, nosebleed, orange blossum, purple wakerobin,

rattlesnake root, red Benjamin, red trillium, red wakerobin,

squaw flower, squaw root, stinking Benjamin, three-leaved

nightshade, trillium, true love, wakerobin, wood lily.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 1 to 2 foot in

height. It has a single stout stem with a whorl of 3 broad

leaves at the top, and a single brown or greenish purple

ill-scented flower growing from the center of the whorl of

leaves.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to early June.

HABITAT: Rich, damp, shady woods.

HARVEST: Root in late summer or fall.

USES: The plant has been used as an antispasmodic, emmenagogue, emetic, expectorant, and uterine astringent. The

Indians of Appalachia cooked pieces of the root in food as an

aphrodisiac.

256
TRILLIUM ERECTUM L.

(LILIACEAE)
TSUGA CANADENSIS (L.) CARR.

(PINACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Eastern hemlock, Canada hemlock, hemlock, hemlock fir, hemlock spruce, hemlock spruce pine,

spruce pine, tan-bark tree, weeping spruce.

DESCRIPTION: An evergreen tree, usually 60 to 70 feet in

height. Leaves are 1/3- to 2/3-inch long, needle-like, flattened, tapering from base to tip, bright green above, light

silvery green with 2 white streaks below. Cones are small, 1/2

to 3/4 inch long. Bark is dark reddish-brown, and deeply

furrowed.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to early June.

HABITAT: Hilly, mountainous, rocky woods, upland loams,

moist benches, and swamp borders.

HARVEST: Bark and resin, which is collected by cutting the

trunk of the tree.

USES: The bark has been used primarily because of its tannin

content, which makes it a strong astringent. Resin is used as a

mild rubefacient and veterinary liniment.

258
TSUGA CANADENSIS (L.) CARR.

(PINACEAE)

259
ULMUS RUBRA MUHL.

(ULMACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Slippery elm, American tree, elm, gray

elm, Indian elm, moose elm, red elm, rock elm, soft elm,

sweet elm, tawny elm.

DESCRIPTION: A tree 60 to 70 feet in height, with dark green

leaves 5 to 7 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, nearly

oval-shaped, rough above and hairy beneath. Twigs are rough

and ashy gray in color. Buds are dark colored and hairy. Buds

at branch ends usually have orange tips. Inner bark is

mucilaginous with a somewhat aromatic flavor.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Late February to early May.

HABITAT: Rich soil, often calcareous, stream banks, river

terraces, bottom lands; also on dry and poor sites.

HARVEST: Inner bark.

USES: Upon soaking in warm water, the inner bark of this tree

produces a mucilage that can be used as a protective,

demulcent, emmolient, laxative, and vulnerary. The pollen is

allergenic. In Appalachia, a tea made from the bark is used as

a laxative.

260
ULMUS RUBRA MUHL.

(ULMACEAE)

261
VERATRUM VIRIDE AIT.

(LILIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: White hellebore, American falsehellebore,

American hellebore, American white hellebore, bearcorn,

big-bane, common swamp hellebore, devil's-bite, false hellebore, green hellebore, Indian poke, itchweed, pokeroot,

swamp hellebore.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that is coarse, erect, 2 to 8 feet in

height. Stems are leafy, unbranched, and grow from short,

thick rootstock to 1 foot long. Leaves are alternate, broadly

ovate to elliptical, entire, with parallel veining. Flowers are

greenish-white to purple, inconspicuous, and in pyramidal

panicles 2 feet long.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to July.

HABITAT: Swamps and low ground, meadows, and banks of

streams.

HARVEST: Roots in fall after leaves have died.

USES: This plant is very poisonous. Its dried roots and

rhizomes, when properly prepared, are a strong cardiac

stimulant drug. It is emetic, diaphoretic, sedative, and

analgesic.

262
VERATRUM VIRIDE AIT.

(LILIACEAE)

263
VERBASCUM THAPSUS L.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Common mullein, Aaron's rod, Adam's

flannel, blanket leaf, bullock's lungwort, candlewick, cow's

lungwort, feltwort, flannel leaf, flannel mullein, flannel plant,

great mullein, hare's beard, hedge taper, ice leaf, Indian

tobacco, Jacob's staff, Jupiter's staff, lady's foxglove, mullein, mullein dock, old man's flannel, Peter's staff, shepherd's

club, torch-wort, velvet dock, velvet plant.

DESCRIPTION: A tall, weedy, unbranched, biennial that

grows to 7 feet in height. It is hairy and soft. Leaves are

widely oblanceolate and oblong 2 to 12 inches long. Flowers

are yellow, densely arranged along a terminal club-like spike.

FLOWERING PERIOD: Late June to September.

HABITAT: Fields, rocky or gravelly banks, waste lands, roadsides, embankments, pastures, and meadows.

HARVEST: Leaves, and flowers, when fully open.

USES: The leaves and flowers are classed as astringent, antitussive, respiratory sedative, antifungal, and anodyne. A tea

made from the leaves is used in Appalachia for colds. The

Greeks and Romans dipped dried stalks in wax and used

them as candles. The Spanish people of New Mexico smoked

the dried leaves, wrapped in corn husks, as a treatment for

asthma.

264
VERBASCUM THAPSUS L.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

265
VERBENA HASTATA L.

(VERBENACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Blue vervain, blue verbena, ironweed,

simpler'sjoy, verbain, wild hyssop.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial that grows to 4 feet in height,

branched above. Leaves are serrated and 3-lobed with 2 sharp

lobes arising from the base. Produces blue or blue-violet

flowers on numerous narrow terminal spikes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: July to September.

HABITAT: Swales, damp thickets, shores, moist fields, meadows, and waste areas.

HARVEST: Herb and root.

USES: This herb reportedly has been used as an astringent,

antipyretic, vulnerary, antirheumatic, tonic, and expectorant.

266
VERBENA HASTATA L.

(VERBENACEAE)

267
VERONICASTRUM VIRGINICUM (L.) FARW.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Culver's physic, Beaumont root, blackroot, bowman's root, culver's root, physic root, tall speedwell, whorlywort.

DESCRIPTION: An erect, unbranched, smooth perennial that

grows to 7 feet in height. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate and

in whorls of 3 to 9 around the stem joints. Flowers are white

to bluish, and crowded in several dense spikes on top of

plant.

FLOWERING PERIOD: June to September.

HABITAT: Rich woods, thickets, moist meadows, and prairies.

HARVEST: Rhizomes and roots.

USES: The rhizome is reputed to be a laxative, emetic,

cholagogue, and tonic.

268
VERONICASTRUM VIRGINICUM (L.) FARW.

(SCROPHULARIACEAE)

269
VIBURNUM NUDUM L.

(CAPRIFOLIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Possumhaw viburnum, larger withe-rod,

possumhaw, shawnee haw, shonny haw, swamp haw, white

rod.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub that grows to 20 feet in

height. Leaves are up to 5 inches long, varying from elliptic

to ovate, with acute to rounded tops. Produces a spreading

white or occasionally pink flower, and bitter berries in

drupes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: May to early July.

HABITAT: Moist and open woods, wooded swamps, wet

pinelands, and bogs.

HARVEST: Bark of root or stem.

USES: The bark is a uterine sedative, diuretic, antispasmodic,

and tonic.

270
VIBURNUM NUDUM L.

(CAPRIFOLIACEAE)

413-947 O - 71 - 18

271
VIBURNUM PRUNIFOLIUM L.

(CAPRIFOLIACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Black haw, blackhaw viburnum, cramp

bark, sheepberry, shonny, sloe, sloe-leaved viburnum, stagbush, sweethaw.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial shrub or small tree, 10 to 20 feet

in height, with spreading branches. The dull-colored leaves

are broadly ovate, opposite, and petioled, with finely serrated

margins. Produces white flowers and dullish black oval fruit.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Thickets, borders of woods, and shores.

HARVEST: Bark of root or stem in the fall.

USES: This plant has the same qualities as V. nudum. In

Appalachia, a root tea is used as a tonic.

272
VIBURNUM PRUNIFOLIUM L.

(CAPRIFOLIACEAE)

273
XANTHORHIZA SIMPLICISSIMA MARSH.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Yellow root, shrub yellowroot.

DESCRIPTION: A perennial low shrub that grows to 1 1/2 feet

in height, with bright yellow wood. It bears a cluster of

compound leaves, each with 5 lanceolate to broadly ovate,

toothed, incised, or parted leaflets. Produces small brownpurple flowers on thin spikes.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Damp woods, thickets, and stream banks.

HARVEST: Roots in fall.

USES: The roots are reputed to be valuable for making a bitter

tonic and as a treatment for dyspepsia.

274
XANTHORHIZA SIMPLICISSIMA MARSH.

(RANUNCULACEAE)

275
XANTHOXYLUM AMERICANUM MILL.

(RUTACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Pricklyash, American pricklyash, common

pricklyash, northern pricklyash, pellitory bark, toothache

bush, toothache tree, yellow wood.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or small tree 5 to 10 feet in height.

Leaves are alternate and compound, with 5 to 11 leaflets.

Stems and petioles are often prickly. Flowers are greenishwhite, small, and inconspicuous. Fruit is a reddish, globular

to elliptic aromatic capsule.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Rich woods and river banks.

HARVEST: Bark of stem in spring and fall, and fruit when

ripe.

USES: Preparations made from the bark of this tree are

reportedly used as a sudorific or diaphoretic, tonic, and

antispasmodic. The fruit has some flavoring qualities also.

276
XANTHOXYLUM AMERICANUM MILL.

(RUTACEAE)

277
XANTHOXYLUM CLAVA^HERCULIS L.

(RUTACEAE)

COMMON NAMES: Hercules'-club prickly ash, Herculesclub,

pepper wood, pricklyash, shrubby pricklyash, southern pricklyash, toothache tree, wild orange.

DESCRIPTION: A shrub or small tree 5 to 10 feet in height.

Leaves are alternate, compound with 5 to 11 leaflets. Stems

and petioles are often prickly. Flowers are greenish-white,

small, and inconspicuous. Fruit is a reddish, globular to

elliptic aromatic capsule, with sharp prickles.

FLOWERING PERIOD: April to May.

HABITAT: Sand hills, dry woods, and thickets.

HARVEST: Bark collected in spring and fall when ripe.

USES: This plant has been used as a sudorific and diaphoretic.

278
XANTHOXYLUM CLAVA-HERCULIS L.

(RUTACEAE)

279

INDEX OF COMMON PLANT NAMES

Aaron's rod 264 American spindle tree

Adam-and-Eve root 48 American storax

Adam's flannel 264 American sweetgum

Adder's mouth 242 American tormentil

Ague grass 40 American tree

Ague horn 40 American twinleaf

Agueroot 40 American valerian

Ague tree 228 American vegetable tallow

Ague-weed 118 American vegetable wax

Alder 42 American walnut

Aletris root 40 American wormroot

Alexanders 46 American wormseed

Allegany foam flower 250 American white ash

Allspice bush 160 American white hellebore

Aloe 40 American white pine

Aloeroot 40 Amyroot

Alum bloom 134 Angelica

Alumroot 134 Apple of Peru

Amaranth 44 Apple of Sodom

Ambrosia 86 Apple Peru

Ambrosia-like chenopodium 86 Apricot vine

American alder 42 Archangel

American angelica 46 Aromatic wintergreen

American ash 124 Arrow-wood

American barberry 74 Arsmart

American bee balm 178 Ash

American bugbane 94 Asthma weed

American deal pine 194 Astringent root

American falsehellebore 262 Atlantic yam

American falsepennyroyal 138 Aunt Jerichos

American fringe tree 92

American ginseng 186 Backache root

American hellebore 262 Ball nettle

American hemp 52 Balm buds

American ipecac 50 Balm ofGilead

American kind 134 Balmony

American maidenhair 36 Balsam poplar

American mountainash 238 Barberry

American nightshade 190 Bath flower

American pennyroyal 138 Bathwort

American pricklyash 276 Battle weed

American rowan tree 238 Bayberry

American sarsaparilla 54,56 Bayberry tallow

American service tree 238 Bayberry waxtree

American skullcap 232 Bearcorn

American spikenard 54,56 Bearing myrica

116

162

162

134

260

146

106

180

180

150

240

86

124

262

194

52

46

108

236

108

188

46

128

116

204

124

164

134

110

46

40

236

206

206

84

206

74

256

256

96

180

180

180

262

180

281
Beaumont root 268 Blue verbena 266

Bedstraw 126 Blue vervain 266

Bee balm 178 Bog onion 62

Beewort 32 Boneset 118

Beggar's buttons 58 Bowman's root 52,268

Bellyache root 46 Boxberry 128

Benjamin bush 160 Brambleberry 216

Bergamot 178 Brandy mint 172

Berried tea 128 Broad leaf coUinsonia 100

Bethroot 256 Broadleaved clover 252

Bettroot 256 Broad-leaved sarabacca 66

Bigbane 262 Brown mint 174

Bilsted 162 Brownwort 208, 230

Biltmore ash 124 Buckeye tree 38

Biltmore white ash 124 Bugbane 94,96

Birthroot 256 Bugleweed 166

Birthwort 64, 256 Buglewort 166

Biting knotweed 204 Bull nettle 236

Biting parsicaria 204 Bullock's lungwort 264

Biting tongue 204 Bullwort 230

Bitter ash 116 Bumblebee root 256

Bitter buttons 246 Burdock 58,60

Bitter dock 218 Burning bush 116

Bitter dogbane 50 Bursting heart 116

Bitter herb 84 Butterfly milkweed 70

Bitter pepper root 32 Butterfly weed 70

Bitter-root 50,52 Butternut 148

Bitter thistle 98 Butterweed 234

Bitterweed 98 Button snakeroot 114

Bitter wintergreen 90 Button snakeroot eryngo 114

Black alder 42

Blackberry 216 Cabinet cherry 210

Black birch 76 Calamus 32

Black cherry 210 Canada hemlock 258

Black choke 210 Canada moonseed 170

Black cohosh 96 Canada root 70

Black haw 272 Canada snakeroot 66

Blackhaw viburnum 272 Canada wild ginger 66

Black Indian hemp 50 Canadian coUinsonia 100

Black maiden's hair fern 34 Canadian hemp 52

Black psyllium 196 Canadian sweetgale 102

Blackroot 268 Canadian tea 128

Black Sampson 112 Cancer jalap 190

Black snakeroot 66,96 Cancerroot 190

Black snakeweed 66 Candle alder 42

Black walnut 150 Candleberry 180

Black willow 222 Candleberry myrtle 180

Bladder pod 164 Candlewick 264

Bladder-podded lobelia

Blanket leaf

164 Cane ash 124

264 Carduus 98

Blazing star 40,82 Careless 44

Bleeding heart 116 Carolina cedar 154

Blessed carduus 98 Carolina horse nettle 236

Blessed thistle 98 Carolina jessamine 130

Blond psyllium 190 Carolina pink 240

Bloodroot 226 Carolina pinkroot 240

Bloodwort 30 Carolina poplar 206

Blueberry 96 Carpenter's grass 30

Blueberry cohosh 78 Carpenter's herb 166, 208

Blueberry root 78 Carpenter's square 230

Blue cohosh 78 Carpenterweed 208

Blue curls 208 Catchfly 50

Blue ginseng 78, 96 Catchweed 126

Blue pimpernel 232 Catchweed bedstraw 126

Blue skul cap 232 Catfoot 66

Bluestem Joe-pyeweed 120 Catgut 248

282
Catmint 184 Common pipsissewa 90

Catnep 184 Common pokeberry 190

Catnip 184 Common pricklyash 276

Catrup 184 Common red clover 252

Catwort 184 Common sassafras 228

Cedar 154 Common selflieal 208

Cedar apple 154 Common silkweed 68

Checkerberry 128, 176 Common smartweed 204

Checkerberry wintergreen 128 Common spicebush 160

Cheese rennet herb 126 Common sumac 214

Chequerberry 128 Common swamp hellebore 262

Cherry birch 76 Common tansy 246

Chickweed 242 Common white oak 212

Chicus 126 Common witch hazel 136

Chidkerberry 128 Common yarrow 30

Chigger flower 70 Compass plant 156

China root 110 Conquer-John 202

Chocolate flower 134 Coolwort 250

Choctaw root 52 Coonroot 226

Choke cherry 210 Coralroot 104

Chongras 190 Cordate rattle-top 96

Cinnamon wood 228 Corn snakeroot 114

Citronella 100 Cottonweed 68

Citronella horse balm 100 Cottonwood 206

Clabbergrass 126 Coughweed 234

Cleaver grass 252 Cow clover 252

Cleavers 126 Cow's lungwort 264

Cleaver's herb 126 Cramp bark 272

Cleaves 126 Cranesbill 134

Cleverwort 126 Cranesbill geranium 134

Clink 128 Crawleyroot 104

Clotbur 58,60 Creep-chequer berry 176

Clover bloom 72 Creeping wintergreen 128

Coakum 190 Crosswort 118

Coalwort 250 Crowberry 190

Cocashweed 234 Crow corn 40

Cock-up-hat

Cocum

244 Crowfoot 134

190 Cuckoo button 60

Cocyshat 244 Cuckoo plant 62

Cohosh 96 Culver's physic 268

Cohosh bugbane

Cokan

96

190

Culver's root

Curled dock

268

218

CoHcroot 40, 50,66, 110 Curly dock 218

Coltsfoot 66 Cursed thistle 98

Coltsfoot's snakeroot 66

Columbine-leaved leontice 96 Daffydown-dilly 256

Combflower 112 Dead nettle 46

Common alder 42 Deer berry 128, 176

Common angelica 46 Deerstongue 254

Common barberry 74 Devil's apple 198

Common boneset 118 Devil's bit 40, 82

Common burdock 60 Devil's-bite 262

Common chickweed 242 Devil's bones 110

Common clover 252 Devil's shoe strings 248

Common crane's bill 134 Devil's trumpet 108

Common dog's bane 50 Dewberry 128, 216

Common hoarhound 168 Dioscorea 110

Common horehound 168 Dishcloth 256

Common horsechestnut 38 Dock 218

Common juniper 152 Dogbane 50

Common mayapple 198 Dogberry 238

Common milkweed 68 Dog daisy 30

Common mint 174 Dogtongue 254

Common moonseed 170 Doorweed 204

Common motherwort 158 Double tansy 246

Common mullein 264 Dove's foot 134

283
Dragon grape 74

Dragonhead 208

Dragon root 62

Dragon's claws 104

Dragon's tongue 88

Dragon turnip 62

Drug sweetflag 32

Duck's foot 198

Dutchmanspipe 64

Dwarf groundnut 186

Dwarfjuniper 152

Dwarf Solomon's seal 202

Dyer's baptisia 72

Eastern black walnut 150

Eastern hemlock 258

Eastern redcedar 154

Eastern wahoo 116

Eastern white pine 194

Elm 260

Emetic herb 164

Emetic weed 164

English cost 246

Eryngo 114

European barberry 74

European white wülow 220

Evening trumpet flower 130

Evergreen 154

Eyebalm 144

Eyebright 144, 164

Eyeroot 144

Fairywand 82

False bitterwort 250

False cohosh 96

False colt's foot 66

False hellebore 262

False indigo 72

False jasmine 130

False jessamine 130

False miterwort 250

False sarsaparilla 54

False unicorn 82

False unicorn root 40

False valerian 234

Fat pine 192

Feltwort 264

Female regulator 234

Fern bush 102

Ferngale 102

Ferngate 102

Feverbush 160

Feverweed 114

Feverwort 118

Field balm 184

Field lobelia 164

Figwort 230

Filnut 148

Fishmouth 84

Five fingers 186

Flagroot 32

Flannel leaf 264

Flannel mullein 264

Flannel plant 264

Fleaseed 196

Flowering ash 92

Fluxroot 70

Fly trap 50

Foam flower 250

Fork-leaf white oak 212

Fragrant wintergreen 90

French psyllium 196

Fringe tree 92

Gagroot 164

Garantogen 186

Garden mint 174

Garden patience 218

Garden sage 224

Garentoquere 186

Garget 190

Gelsemium 130

Gem fruit 250

Gensang 186

Georgia pine 192

Ginger plant 246

Ginseng 186

Glabrous hemp 52

Goat's rue 248

Golden buttons 246

Golden groundsel 234

Golden ragwort 234

Goldenroot 144

Goldenseal 144

Golden senecio 234

Goose foot 86

Goosefoot maple 28

Goosegrass 126

Goose's hare 126

Gordoloba 30

Gorst 152

Grantogen 186

Gravelroot 120

Graybeard tree 92

Gray elm 260

Great angelica 46

Great burdock 58

Great mullein 264

Great pilewort 230

Green alder 42

Green amaranth 44

Green arrow 30

Green hellebore 262

Green opened amaranth 44

Green-stemmed joe-pyeweed 120

Ground holly 90,128

Ground ivy 128

Ground juniper 152

Ground lemon 198

Ground lily 256

Ground raspberry 144

Groundsel 234

Ground squirrel pea 146

Grouse berry 128

Grub root 82

Guild tree 74

Gypsyweed 166

Gypsywort 166

Hackmatack 152, 206

Hair fern 36

Hairy Solomon's seal 202

284
Hamamelis 136 Indian paint 144

Hard hack 100 Indian pink 240

Hard pine 192 Indian physic 52

Hare's beard 264 Indian plant 144

Hazel alder 42 Indian plantago 196

Heal-all 100, 208, 230 Indian poke 262

Heart-leaved rattle-top 96 Indian root 56

Heart-leaved snakeroot 96 Indian sage 118

Heart liverleaf 140 Indian shamrock 256

Heart pine 192 Indian's plume 178

Heart snakeroot 66 Indian strawberry 122

Hedgehog 112 Indian tobacco 164, 264

Hedge taper 264 Indian tobacco lobelia 164

Helmet flower 232 Indian turmeric 144

Helmet pod 146 Indian turnip 62

Helonias 82 Indigo broom 72

Hemlock 258 Indigo weed 72

Hemlock fir 258 Inkberry 190

Hemlock spruce 258 Ironweed 266

Hemlock spruce pine

Hemp dogbane

258 Itchweed 262

52 Ivory plum 128

Hempweed 120

Hepática 140 Jack-in-the-pulpit

Jacob's staff

62

Hercules club 278 264

Hercules' club prickly ash 278 Jalap 190

Hind heal 246 Jamestown weed 108

High angelica 46 Jasmine 130

Hillberry 128 Jaundice barberry 74

Hive vine 176 Jaundice berry 74

Hoarhound 168 Jaundice root 144

Hoary pea 248 Jerseytea ceanothus 80

Hog apple 198 Jerusalem oak seed 86

Holme's weed 230 Jerusalem tea 86

Holy thistle 98 Jesuit tea 86

Honey bloom 50 Jimsonweed 108

Hooded willow herb 232 Jimsonweed datura 108

Hoodwort 232 Jinshard 186

Hookweed 208 Joepye 118

Horehound 166, 168 Joe-pyeweed 120

Horse balm 100 Jopiroot 120

Horsechestnut 38 Jopiweed 120

Horsefly weed 72 Juniper 152, 154

Horsemint 178 Juniper bush 152

Horse nettle 236 Jupiter's staff 264

Horse savin 152

Horseweed 100 Kernelwort 230

Houndsbane 168 Kidneyroot 120

Huskwood 40 King-of-the-meadow 120

Huskwort 40 King's cure 90

Hybrid amaranthus 44 Knobgrass 100

Hydrastis 144 Knob root 100

Knotted root 230

Ice leaf 264

lUscented trillium 256 Lady's foxglove 264

Illscented wakerobin 256 Lady's hair 34

Indian apple 198 Lady's mint 174

Indian arrowwood 116 Lady-sUpper

Lakeweed

106

Indian balm 256 204

Indian dye 144 Lamb mint 172

Indian elm 260 Lamb's quarters 256

Indian ginger 66 Lammint 172

Indian gravelroot 120 Lappa 58

Indian hemp 50,52 Larger withe-rod 270

Indian Jack-in-the-pulpit 62 Lemonnut 148

Indian mozemize 238 Life-of-man 56, 238

Indian nosy 70 Liferoot 234

285
Lion's ear 158 Mountain berry 128

Lion's tail 158 Mountain black cherry 210

Lion's tart 158 Mountain bugbane 94

Liquid storax 162 Mountain flax 200

Liverleaf 140 Mountain mahogany 76

Liverwort 140 Mountain maple 28

Lobelia 164 Mountain maple bush 28

Long boughs 136 Mountain mint 178

Longleaf pine 192 Mountain rattle top 94

Longleaf yellow pine 192 Mountain sumac 238

Longstraw pine 192 Mountain tea 128

Lords and ladies 62 Mountain teaberry 128

Love-in-winter 90 Mullein 264

Love lies bleeding 44 Mullein dock 264

Low balm 178 Murrian grass 230

Low maple 28 Myrtle 180

Myrtle flag 32

Mad apple 108

Mad dog 232 Narrow dock 218

Mad-dog skullcap 232 Nasturtium 182

Mad-dog weed 232 Nerve root 106

Madweed 232 Nettle potato 244

Maidenhair 34,36 New England pine 194

Maidenhair fern 36 New Jersey tea 80

Mandrake 198 Niggerweed 120

Man's health 186 Nightshade 236

Manroot 186 Ninsin 186

Maple vine 170 Nip 184

Marcony 244 Noble liverwort 140

Marrhue 168 Noble pine 90

Marrub 168 Northern pine 194

Marrubium 168 Northern pricklyash 276

Marsh gentian 132 Northern white pine 194

Marsh milkweed 120 Nosebleed 30, 256

Marshpepper smartweed 204 Notch-leaved alder 42

Maryland figwort 230

Maryland pinkroot 240 Obelia 164

Marvel 168 Ohio curcuma 144

Masse-misse 238 Oilnut 148

Masterwort 46 Old maid's-nightcap 134

Masterwort aromatic 46 Old man's beard 92

Mayapple 198 Old man's flannel 264

Maypop 188 Old man's pepper 30

Maypop herb 188 Old man's root 56

Maypop passionflower 188 One berry 176

Meadow clover 252 Orange apocynum 70

Meadow fern 102 Orange blossum 256

Meadow-rue leontice 96 Orange milkweed 70

Meadow sage 224 Orange root 70, 144

Meadow turnip 62 Orange swaliow-wort 70

Mealy starwort 40 Oswego beebalm 178

Memory root 62 Oswego tea 178

Mexican tea 86 Our-lady 's-thistle 98

Milfoil 30 Ox balm 100

Milk ipecac 50

Milksweet 126 Papoose root 78,96

Milkweed 50,52,68 Parsley fern 246

Milkwort 200 Partridgeberry 128, 176

Missy-massy 238 Passionflower 188

Missey-mossey 238 Passion vine 188

Mock pennyroyal 138 Paul's betony 166

Moonseed 170 Pauson 226

Moose elm 260 Pegwood 116

Motherwort 120, 158 Pelican flower 64

Mountain ash 238 PelHtory bark 276

Mountain balm 178 Pencil cedar 154

286
Pennsylvania sumach 214 Queen-of-the-meadow 120

Pennyroyal 138 Queensdelight 244

Pennyroyal of America 138 Queen's delight stillingia 244

Pepperidge bush 74 Queen's root 244

Peppermint 172 Quick beam 238

Pepper plant 204 Quillwort 120

Pepper turnip

Pepper wood

62

278 Rabbit's foot 54

Pepsissewa 88 Rabbit pea 248

Perennial wormgrass 240 Racoonberry 198

Peter's staff 264 Ragwort 234

Petty morrel 56 Raspberry 216

Physic root 268 Ratsbane 88

Pigeonberry 128, 190 Rattle bush 72

Pigeon weed 56 Rattle-root 96

Pig weed 44 Rattlesnake flag 114

Pilewort 230 Rattlesnake master 114

Pine root 32 Rattlesnake root 82, 96, 200, 256

Pine tulip 90 Rattlesnake weed 114

Pinkroot 240 Rattletop 96

Pinkroot spigelia 240 Rattleweed 72,96

Pipsissewa 90 Red alder 42

Pistachio 136 Red balm 178

Pitch pine 192 Red Benjamin 256

Plantago 196 Redberry 186

Plantain 196 Red-berry tea 128

Pleurisy root 70 Red cedar 154

Pocan 190 Red clover 252

Pocan bush 190 Red cockscomb 44

Podophyllum 198 Red elm 260

Poison ash 92 Redgum 162

Poke 190 Red Indian paint 226

Pokeberry 190 Red-ink plant 190

Pokeroot 190,262 Red juniper 154

Pokeweed 190 Red knees 204

Poor robin 126 Red poUom 128

Poplar balsam 206 Red puccoon 226

Possumhaw 270 Red root 80, 226

Possumhaw viburnum 270 Red sassafrass 228

Prickly lettuce 156 Red savin 154

Pricklyash 276, 278 Red shanks 204

Priest's pintle 62 Red sharks 204

Prince's feather 44 Red sunflower 112

Prince's pine 90 Red trillium 256

Princess pine 90 Red wakerobin 256

Prostrate juniper 152 Red wood 190

Psyllium 196 Reed acorus 32

Psyllium seed 196 Rheumatism root 40, 88, 110, 146

Puccoon 226 Rheumatism weed 52,90

Puccoon root 226 Rheumatism wood 50

Pudding grass 138 Ribgrass 196

Pukeweed 164 Ribwort 196

Purple archangel 166 Richweed 96, 100

Purple boneset 120 Ridge white oak 212

Purple clover 252 River birch 76

Purple coneflower 112 Rock elm 260

Purple echinacea 112 Rock fern 36

Purplestem angelica 46 Rose balm 178

Purple strawberry bush 116 Rosemary pine 192

Purple thoroughwort 120 Round tree 238

Purple trillium 256 Roundwood 238

Purple wakerobin 256 Roxberry 128

Pussy willow 222 Rubber root 70

Puttyroot 48 Rum cherry 210

Pyrole 90 Running box 176

413-947 O - 71 - 19

287
Sage 224 Slender pigweed 44

Sage of Bethlehem 174 Slim amaranth 44

St. Benedict's thistle 98 Slippery elm 260

Salt-rheum weed 84 Sloe 272

Sampson's snakeroot

Sand brier

132 Sloe-leaved viburnum 272

236 Smaller burdock 60

Sang 186 Small golden slipper 106

Sangrel 64 Small-Jack-in-the-pulpit 62

Sangrel-root 64 Small mocassin flower 106

Sanguinary 30 Smallseed white ash 124

Sapgum 162 Small solomonseal 202

S arsaparil 54 Small spikenard 54

Sarsaparilla 54 Small spikeweed 54

Sarsaparilla root

Sassafras

54 Small yellow lady slipper 106

228 Smartweed 204

Satin flower 242 Smelling stick 228

Savin 154 Smooth alder 42

Savoyan 126 Smooth hydrangea 142

Saxifras 228 Smooth pigweed 44

Scarlet balm 178 Smooth sumac 214

Scarlet sage 224 Smooth snakehead 84

Scarlet strawberry 122 Snakebite 226

Scarlet sumac 214 Snakehead 84

Scented fern 246 Snakemouth 84

Scoke 190 Snakeroot 64, 240

Scotch mint 174 Snakeweed 64

Scotch spearmint 174 Snapping hazel 136

Scratchweed 126 Snapping hazel-nut 136

Scrofula plant 230 Snowdrop tree 92

Sealwort 202 Snowflowers 92

Self-heal 208 Soft deal-pine 194

Senecaroot 200 Soft elm 260

Seneca snakeroot 200 Soft pine 194

Seneca-snakeroot polygala 200 Soldier's woundwort 30

Senega root 200 Solomon's seal 202

Senega snakeroot 200 Sour dock 218

Seneka snakeroot 200 Southern bayberry 180

Serpentaria 64 Southern bayberry 180

Serpentary root 64 Southern maidenhair 34

Sevenbark 142 Southern pine 192

Shameface 134 Southern pricklyash 278

Sharplobed liverleaf 140 Southern snakeroot 66

Sharplobe hepática 140 Southern wax myrtle 180

Shavings 92 Southern witch-hazel 136

Shawnee haw 270 Southern yellow pine 192

Sheepberry 272 Sow berry 74

Shellflower 84 Spanish psyIlium 196

Shepherd's club 264 Spanish tea 86

Shernoke 214 Spearmint 174

Shonny 272 Speckled alder 42

Shonny haw 270 Spiceberry 128, 160

Shotbush 54 Spice birch 76

Shrubby fern 102 Spicebush 160

Shrubby pricklyash 278 Spicy wintergreen 128

Shrubby-sweet fern 102 Spignet 54, 56

Shrub yellowroot 274 Spiked maple 28

Sickleweed 204, 208 Spikenard 54, 56

Sicklewort 208 Spindle tree 116

Sideflowering skullcap 232 Spleen amaranth 44

Silkweed 52,68,70 Spleen fern 102

Silky swallow-wort 68 Spleenwort bush 102

Silver leaf 244 Spleenwort fern 102

Simpler'sjoy 266 Spotted alder 136

Skewerwood 116 Spotted carduus 98

Skoke 190 Spotted cranesbill 134

Skullcap 232 Spotted geranium 134

288
spotted pipsissewa 88 Sweet grass 32

Spotted thistle 98 Sweet gum 162

Spotted wintergreen 88 Sweet haw 272

Spreading dogbane 50 Sweet Joe-pyeweed 120

Spring cleavers 126 Sweet Myrtle 32

Spring wintergreen 128 Sweetroot 32,54

Spruce pine 194, 258 Sweet rush 32

Square stalk 230 Sweet sedge 32

Squawberry 176 Sweet segg 32

Squaw flower 256 Sweet slumber 226

Squaw mint 138

Squaw root 78,96,256 Tacamahac poplar 206

Squaw vine 176 Tackamahac 206

Squawweed 234 Tag alder

Tall boneset

42

Stagbush 272 120

Star bloom 240 Tallow shrub 180

Starchwort 62 Tall speedwell 268

Star grass 40 Tan-bark tree 258

Star leaf gum 162 Tanner's oak 212

Star root 82 Tansy 246

Starwort 40, 82, 242 Tartar root 186

Stave oak 212 Tawny elm 260

St. Benedict's thistle 98 Teaberry 128

Stickweed 86 Teagel 118

Stillingia 244 Tetterwort 226

Stink apple 108 Texas sarsaparilla 170

Stinking balm 138 Thick birthwort 64

Stinking Benjamin 256 Thickweed 138

Stinking Christopher 230 Thorn apple 108

Stinking weed 86 Thorough-stem 118

Stinkweed 108, 120 Thoroughwax 118

Stinkwort 108 Thoroughwort 118

Stitchwort 242 Thousand-leaf 30

Stone oak 212 Thousand-leaved clover 30

Stone root 100 Thousand-seal 30

Storax tree 162 Three-leaved nightshade 256

Stork bill 134 Three-leaved wintergreen 128

Stramonium 108 Thrice-leaved arum 62

Strawberry 122 Throughstem 118

Strawberry bush 116 Throwwort 158

Straw-colored gentian 132 Tickweed 138

Striped alder 136 Tobacco lobelia 164

Striped gentian 132 Tobacco wood 136

Styrax 162 Tongue grass 242

Sumac 214 Toothache bush 276

Summer cohosh 94 Toothache tree 276, 278

Swallow wort 70 Torchwort 264

Swamp alder 42 Tormentil 134

Swamp haw 270 Trailing gaultheria 128

Swamp hellebore 262 Tread-softly 236

Swamp squawweed 234 Trillium 256

Swamp turnip 62 True love 256

Swamp willow 222 True sage 224

Sweating plant 118 True snakehead 84

Sweating weed 118 True watercress 182

Sweet birch 76 True unicorn root 40

Sweet bugleweed 166 Trumpet weed 120

Sweet bush 102 Tuberous-rooted swallow-wort 70

Sweet cane 32 Tuber root 70

Sweet cinnamon 32 Tumeric 144

Sweet clover 252 Turkey grass 126

Sweet elm 260 Turkey pea 248

Sweet fern 36, 102 Turmeric 226

Sweet ferry 102 Turpentine pine 192

Sweet flag 32 Turtle bloom 84

Sweet flagroot 32 Turtlehead 84

289
Twinberry 176 White rod 270

Twinleaf 146 White root 70

Two-eyed berry 176 White sassafras 228

Two-eyed chequer berry 176 White tube stargrass 40

White turtlehead 84

Umbrella plant 198 White walnut 148

Uncum 234 White willow 220

Unicorn plant 40 Wholywort 268

Unicorn root 40 Wild allspice 160

Unicorn's horns 40 Wild arsenic 88

Unstilla 240 Wild ashe 238

Upland sumach 214 Wild beet 44

Wild black cherry 210

Vanilla leaf 254 Wild cherry 210

Vanilla plant 254 Wild cotton 52,68

Vanilla trilisa 254 Wild cranesbill 134

Vegetable antimony 118 Wild geranium 134

Vegetable calomel 198 Wild ginger 66

Vegetable mercury 198 Wild hydrangea 142

Velvet dock 264 Wild hyssop 266

Velvet plant 264 Wild indigo 72

Venus hair fern 34 Wild ipecac 50

Verbain 266 Wild Isaac 118

Vinegar tree 214 Wild jalap 198

Vine maple 170 Wild jasmine 130

Virginia bugleweed

Virginia cedar

166 Wild lemon 198

154 Wild lettuce 156

Virginia poke 190 Wild licorice 54

Virginia prune bark 210 Wild mandrake 198

Virginian sarsaparilla 54 Wild opium 156

Virginia snakeroot 64 Wild orange 278

Virginia strawberry 122 Wild sage 118

Virginia tephrosia 248 Wild snowball 80

Vomitwort 164 Wild sarsaparilla 54

Wild strawberry 122

Wahoo 116 Wild tobacco 164

Wake robin 62,256 Wild turmeric 144

Walnut 150 Wild turnip 62

Wandering milkweed 50 Wild valerian 234

Water bugle 166 Wild wormseed 86

Watercress 182 Wild yam 110

Water eryngo 114 Willow 222

Water horehound 166 Wind root 70

Water pepper 204 Wind weed 70

Water smartweed 204 Wine tree 70, 238

Wax berry 180 Winterberry 128

Wax cluster 128 Winterbloom 136

Wax flower 90 Winter clover 176

Wax myrtle 180 Wintergreen 88,90, 128

Waxweed 234 Witch Hazel 136

Weeping spruce 258 Witchwood 238

Western wallflower 50 Wolf foot 166

Weymouth pine 194 Wood betony 166

Whicky cherry 210 Woodbine 130

White ash 124 Wood lily 256

White bird's eye 242 Wood sour 74

White colicroot 40 Wood tobacco 136

White fringe 92 Wormgrass 240

White fringe tree 92 Wormseed 86

White hazel 136 Wormseed goosefoot 86

White hellebore 262

White hoarhound 168 Yam 110

White horehound 168 Yarrow 30

White oak 212 Yaw root 244

White pine 194 Yellowberry 198

White puccoon 226 Yellow broom 72

290
Ye ow dock 218 Yellow parilla 170

Ye oweye-wright 144 Yellow pine 192

Yel ow ginseng 78, 96 Yellow puccoon 144

Ye ow Indian shoe 106 Yellow sarsaparilla 170

Ye owjasmineroot 130 Yellowroot 74 144 146 274

Ye ow jessamine 130 Yellow wild indigo ' ' ' 72

Ye ow lady s slipper 106 Yellow wood 276

Yeowmoccasm 106 Yellowwort 144

Yellow paintroot 144

291

J.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1971 O—413-947

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special acknowledgment is due to Leo Harvey and

Lawrence Harvey, respectively chairman of the board and

president of the Harvey Aluminum Company, for providing

some of the equipment and supplies used in this research,

and for their interest in and encouragement of this work.

The botanical descriptions were reviewed by Dr. Joseph

Arditti, Department of Organismic Biology, University of

California, Irvine; and Dr. Howard Pfeiffer, Curator of the

Herbarium, University of Connecticut, Storrs. Dr. George

Hocking, School of Pharmacy of Auburn University,

reviewed the use sections and also made helpful suggestions.

Dr. Earl L. Core, West Virginia State University; Dr.

James Hardin, North CaroUna State University; Miss Mary

Ruth Chiles, Great Smoky Mountain National Pajk, U. S.

Department of the Interior; Paul Camplin, Frankfort,

Kentucky; and Edward H. Seanlon & Associates, Inc.,

Olmstead Falls, Ohio, generously provided illustrations used

in this manual. The American Museum of Natural History

and the Field Museum of Natural History also made their

plant photographs available.

Mrs. Marion Sheehan, Gainesville, Florida, created most

of the line drawings used in this paper. Mrs. Juanita

Huguely, project clerk in the timber related crops project,

gave valuable assistance in the preparation of this manual.

Miss Karyl Magee, forestry aid on the project, also assisted;

and Clyde M. Morris, forestry research technician at Berea,

built the drying box.
THE FOREST SERVICE of the U. S. Depart^

mcnt of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of

multiple use management of the Nation's forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage,

wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research,

cooperation with the States and private forest

owners, and management of the National Forests

and National Grasslands, it strives — as directed

by Congress — to provide increasingly greater

service to a growing Nation.