Stillingia sylvatica,

Linne.

The dried roots.

Habitat. S. United States, in sandy soil, pine barrens (Virginia to Florida, Louisiana).

Syn. Stilling., Queen's Root, Queen's Delight, Silver Leaf, Cock-up Hat. Marcory, Nettle Potato, Yaw Root; Fr. Stillingie; Ger. Stillingie.

Stil-lin'gi-a. L. after Benjamin Stillingfleet, English botanist, author of Miscellaneous Tracts on Natural History, 1759.

Syl-vat'i-ca. L. silvaticus, fr. silva, a wood, of the woods, forests - i. e., grows in pine-barrens of the South.

Plant. - Perennial lactiferous herb; stem .3-1 M. (1-3°) high, erect, smooth, simple; leaves lanceolate, sessile, serrate; flowers May-June, monoecious, yellow, spikes - staminate above, pistillate below, cup-shaped glands among them; fruit round capsule, rough, greenish-brown, 3-celled, each cell 1-seeded, plant when wounded emits milky juice. Root, terete, unequally tapering, rarely branched, 20-40 Cm. (8-16)') long, .5-3 Cm. (1/5-1 1/5') thick; usually in cut pieces, 2-5 Cm. (4/5-2') long, reddish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled; fracture very fibrous; internally - bark light reddish-brown, thick, spongy, finely fibrous, with numerous resin cells and easily separable from porous, radiate wood, odor distinct; taste bitter, acrid, pungent. Powder, light reddish-brown; microscopically - numerous starch grains, .005-.035 Mm. (1/5000-1/725') broad, numerous fragments with tabular secretion cells, containing reddish-brown, amorphous, resinous substance; fragments of tracheae associated with wood-fibres, long, narrow bast-fibres, reddish-brown cork cells, occasionally rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate. Should be kept in tightly-closed containers, adding occasionally a few drops of chloroform or carbon tetrachloride to prevent insect attack. Solvents: boiling water; diluted alcohol. Dose, gr. 15-30 (1-2 Gm.).

Fig. 242. - Stillingia root: magnified 10 diam.

Constituents. - Sylvacrol, Volatile oil 3-4 p. c, resin, glucoside, fixed oil, tannin 10-12 p. c, gum, starch, ash 5 p. c; has no alkaloid (stillingine).

Sylvacrol. - Acrid resin, to which pungency is due, soluble in alcohol, chloroform, benzin.

Volatile Oil. - Gives acrimony, odor, and taste, hence root deteriorates with age; that (oil) on the market is an ethereal extract.

Preparations. - 1. Fluidextractum Stillingioe. Fluidextract of Stillingia. (Syn., Fldext. Stilling., Fluid Extract of Stillingia, Fluid-extract of Queen's Root; Fr. Extrait fluide de Stillingie; Ger. Stil-lingienfluidextrakt.)

Manufacture: Similar to Fluidextractum Sabal, page 95; menstruum: diluted alcohol. Dose, exv-30 (1-2 Ml. (Cc.)).

Unoff. Preps.: Decoction, dose, ℥j-2 (30-60 Ml. (Cc.)). Extract, dose, gr. 2-5 (.13-.3 Gm.). Compound Fluidextract, 25 p. c, + cory-dalis 25, blue flag 12.5, sambucus 12.5, chimaphila 12.5, coriander 6.3, prickly ash berries 6.2, menstruum (glyc. 25, alc. 50, water 25 + dil. alc. q. s.). Dose, 3ss-l (2-4 Ml. (Cc.)). Compound Syrup 25 p. c.

(comp. fldext.), glyc. 10, syrup 65, dose, 3j-4 (4-15 Ml. (Cc.)). Tincture, dose, 3ss-2 (2-8 Ml. (Cc.)).

Properties. - Alterative, antivenereal; large doses emetic, cathartic. As alterative it is expectorant, diuretic, diaphoretic, sialagogue, cholagogue, increases heart action, circulation, and various secretions.

Fig. 243. - Mallotus philippinensis: a, twig of staminate plant; b, twig of pistillate plant.

Uses. - Syphilis, scrofula, skin diseases, chronic hepatic affections, intermittents, constipation; often associated with sarsaparilla. Popular in the South since 1800, when it was introduced by Dr. Simons.

Allied Plants:

1. Stillingia sebij'era, L. sebum, tallow, + ferre, to bear. - China. Tree 6-9 M. (20-30°) high, fruit 3-celled, 3-seeded, imbedded in solid, inodorous fat (palmitin, stearin), melts at 44° C. (112° F.), called China or Vegetable Tallow; used for candles. Grows also in S Carolina, Georgia, Florida, along seacoast.