This section is from the book "A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology", by David M. R. Culbreth. Also available from Amazon: Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology.
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.
 
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