COMMON NAMES. Button Busy, Pond Dogwood, etc.
    MEDICINAL PART. The root.
    Description. -- This is a handsome shrub, growing from six to twelve or more feet high, with a rough bark on the stem, but smooth on the branches. The leaves are opposite, oval, acuminate, in whorls of three, from three to five inches long by two to three wide. The flowers are white, and resemble those of the sycamore, and the fruit a hard and dry capsule.
    History. -- This plant is indigenous, and found in damp places, along the margins of rivers, ponds, etc., flowering from June to September. The bark is very bitter, and yields its virtues to water and alcohol.
    Properties and Uses. -- Tonic, febrifuge, aperient, and diuretic. It is used with much success in intermittent and remittent fevers. The inner bark of the root forms an agreeable bitter, and is employed in coughs and gravel. It deserves more notice than it receives, for my experience with it teaches me that it is a valuable medicinal plant.