Allied Plants:

1. Veron'Ica Virgin'Ica, Leptandra, Culver's-Root (-Physic)

Veron'Ica Virgin'Ica, Leptandra, Culver's-Root (-Physic). The dried rhizome and roots, official 1820-1910; N. America, low grounds. Perennial herb, .6-2 M. (2-6°) high, angular, smooth or downy; leaves lanceolate, serrate, 7.5-10 Cm. (3-4') long, whorls; flowers, spikes, whitish, tubular, stamens 2, exserted; fruit small, compressed capsule. Rhizome, 4-15 Cm. (1 3/5-6') long, 3-8 Mm, (1/8-1/3') thick, grayishblack, bent, branched, cup-shaped scars above, coarse roots or root-scars on sides and beneath, annulate, fracture tough, woody; bark .3-1 Mm. (1/75-1/25') thick, wood hard, yellowish, pith large; odor slight; taste bitter, acrid; solvents: 75 p. c. alcohol, water; contains (mostly in bark) leptandrin, resin 6 p. c, tannin, saponin, volatile alkaloid (?). Emeto-cathartic, cholagogue, alterative, tonic; duodenal atony, chronic constipation with insufficiency of biliary and intestinal secretions; acts violently on some persons. Dose, gr. 15-60 (1-4 Gm.); fluid-extract (dil. ale), exv-60 (1-4 Ml. (Cc.)) - extract (75 p. c. alcohol), gr. 1-5 (.06-.3 Gm.); tincture, 3j-2 (4-8 Ml. (Cc.)); leptandrin (similar to podophyllin), gr. 1-5 (.06-3 Gm.).

2. V. officinalis, Common Speedwell; Europe, N. America. - Procumbent, pubescent, perennial, stem ascending, 7.5-25 Cm. (3-10') high; leaves obovate, petioled, 2-4 Cm. (4/5-l 3/5') long, serrate, grayish-green; flowers axillary racemes, wheel-shaped, 4-parted, pale blue corolla with dark blue stripes, 2 ex-serted stamens; contains bitter

Fig. 367. - Veronica officinalis: flowering branch.

Fig. 368. - Veronica virginica: transverse sections of rhizome and root.

principle, tannin; plant used as alterative, diuretic (urinary, calculous disorders), diaphoretic, expectorant (skin diseases, scurvy); in infusion. Dose, gr. 30-60 (2-4 Gm.).

3. Scrophnla'ria nodo'sa, Figwort; N. America. - Perennial plant growing in damp places, 1.2-1.5 M. (4-5°) high, stem obtusely angled, rhizome fleshy, having attached many oval tubers size of the thumb, leaves opposite, serrate; plants bruised when fresh emits an unpleasant, fetid odor; contains scrophularin, scrophularosmin, resin, tannin; alterative, diuretic, anodyne in hepatic affections, scrofula, dropsy, eczema, itch, hemorrhoids, anal ulcers, suppurating sores, etc. Dose, gr. 30-60 (2-4 Gm.).

4. Chelo'Ne Gla'Bra, Balmony, Snake-Head; United States

Chelo'Ne Gla'Bra, Balmony, Snake-Head; United States. Perennial plant growing in damp places, .6-1 M. (2-3°) high; leaves opposite, oblong-lanceolate, serrate, 7.5-15 Cm. (3-6') long, flowers white, faintly pink, 2.5 Cm. (1') long, short, dense, terminal spike; contains bitter principle; tonic, laxative, anthelmintic, jaundice, liver trouble; skin diseases (eczema, etc.) externally. Dose, gr. 30-120 (2-8 Gm.), in decoction.

5. Verbas'cum Thap'sus, Mullein; Europe, but naturalized in N. America. Dried leaves (verbasci folia) used. Plant .3-1.3 M. (1-4°) high, woolly, growing in fields, waste places; flowers yellow, 2.5-4 Cm. .') broad; odor honey-like; taste mucilaginous, sweet; contains volatile oil, mucilage, sugar. Used as a demulcent, pectoral, anodyne, nutritive in consumption, coughs. Dose, gr. 15-60 (1-4 Gm.); fluid-extract (dil. ale); infusion; dried leaves smoked for nasal catarrh. V. phlonmi'des, V. thapsiforme, the dried corollas, with adhering stamens (verbasci flores), containing resin, volatile oil, glucoside, gum, coloring, also considerably employed.

Fig. 369. - Verbascum Thapsus.