American medicinal barks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pharmacopœial name.—Viburnum opulus.

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

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

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

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

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

Collection, prices, and uses.—Cramp bark is collected in the fall, and at present is paid for at the rate of about 2 to 4½ cents a pound.

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

Pharmacopœial name.—Viburnum prunifolium.

Other common names.—Sloe, sloe-leaved viburnum, stagbush.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sweet viburnum is an indigenous shrub or small tree, sometimes as tall as 30 feet, and somewhat resembling prunifolium. The winter buds, however, are longer pointed and smooth, the leaves have longer slender stems and are oval, long pointed at the apex, and generally rounded at the base. They are from 2 to 4 inches long, smooth on both surfaces, and sharply toothed. The stemless flower clusters, 2 to 5 inches broad, appear about May, followed by the oval, bluish black, bloom-covered fruit, which matures about October, becoming sweet and edible. (Fig. 45.) The fruit sometimes remains on the shrub until the following spring. It contains a very flat, round or oval seed. Like the cramp-bark tree, the black haw and sweet viburnum both belong to the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceæ).

The bark of the sweet viburnum is also collected in autumn, and is used like prunifolium.