Menisper'mum canaden'se, Yellow Parilla, Canadian Moonseed. -- The rhizome and roots U.S.P. 1880-1890; N. America (Canada to S. Carolina). Perennial climber, 2.5-3.5 M. (8-12 degrees) long; stem round, striate; leaves 10-12.5 Cm. (4-5') broad, peltate, 3-5-lobed, pale beneath petioles long; flowers small, yellowish; fruit 8 Mm. (1/3') thick, black, resembling grapes. Rhizome 1 M. (3 degrees) long, 6 Mm. 1/4') thick, yellowish-brown, knotty, wrinkled lengthwise, roots many, fracture tough, woody, inside yellowish, bark thick, wood-rays broad, porous and longest on lower side, pith distinct; nearly inodorous; taste bitter; contains berberine (yellow), menispine, starch, gum, resin, tannin. Tonic, alterative, diuretic; similar to calumba (owing to its bitterness); scrofulous affections, as a substitute for sarsaparilla. Dose, gr. 15-60 (1-4 Gm.); fluidextract (alcohol 65 p.c.), 3ss-1 (2-4 cc.).