COMMON NAMES. Colic-root, Ague-root, Crow-corn, Unicorn root, etc.
    MEDICINAL PART. The root.
    Description. -- This plant has a perennial root, with radical leaves, sessile, lying flat on the ground, ribbed, broad, lanceolate, smooth, the large ones being about four inches long. The flower-stem is from one to three feet high, erect and simple, bearing a bell-shaped flower, which, as it grows old, has a wrinkled, mealy appearance. The fruit is a triangular capsule.
    History. -- It is indigenous to North America, growing in low grounds, sandy soils, and at the edges of woods. Its flowers are white, and appear from May to August. The root is the part used. Alcohol is the best solvent.
    Properties and Uses. -- Its root, when thoroughly dried, is an intensely bitter tonic, and in decoction or tincture is of great utility in dyspepsia, general or local debility, flatulent colic, hysteria, etc. It greatly strengthens the female generative organs, affording protection against miscarriage; and in chlorosis, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, engorged condition of the uterus, prolapsus of that organ, is a very superior vegetable agent.
    Dose. -- Of the powdered root, from five to ten grains, three times a day; of the saturated tincture, five to fifteen drops.