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. 367. - Veronica officinalis: flowering branch.

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

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.

Fig. 369. - Verbascum Thapsus.