(Culver's Root.)

Origin. - The dried rhizome and roots of Veronica virginica L., a plant indigenous in Canada, and in the United States as far west as the Mississippi Valley.

Description and Properties. - Of horizontal growth, from 4 to 6 inches (10-15 Cm.) long and about 1/4 inch (6 Mm.) thick, somewhat flattened, bent and branched, deep blackish-brown, with cup-shaped scars on the upper side, hard, of a woody fracture, with a thin, blackish bark, a hard, yellowish wood, and a large, purplish-brown, about six-rayed pith; roots thin, wrinkled, very fragile; inodorous; taste bitter and feebly acrid.

Leptandra contains a crystalline glycoside, leptandrin, besides tannin, gum, and a small quantity of volatile oil.

Dose. - 15-60 grains (1.0-4.0 Gm.) [15 grains (1 Gm.), U. S. P.].

Official Preparations

Extractum Leptandrae - Extraxti Leptandrae - Extract of Leptandra. - Dose, 1-5 grains (0.06-0.3 Gm.) [4 grains (0.25 Gm.), U. S. P.].

Fluidextraxtum Leptandrae - Fluidextracti Leptandrae - Fluidextract of Leptandra. - Dose, 15-60 minims (1.0-4.0 Cc.) [15 minims (1 Cc), U. S. P.].

The Pilulae Cathairticae Vegetables contain 1/4 grain (0.01 Gm.) of the extract of leptandra to each pill.

Leptandrin (non-official). - Dose, 1-3 grains (0.06-0.2 Gm.). An impure mixture of resins is on the market.

Physiological Action and Therapeutics. - The action of leptandra is similar to the actions of euonymus, iris, and juglans, the green root, however, being more of an irritant to the gastrointestinal tract, possessing marked emetocathartic properties.

It is thought to be an active hepatic stimulant, and may be advantageously employed for the same purposes as euonymus, iris, etc.