Part 1
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
FARMERS’ BULLETIN No. 188.
WEEDS USED IN MEDICINE.
BY
ALICE HENKEL,
_Assistant in Drug and Medicinal Plant Investigations, Botanical Investigations and Experiments, Bureau of Plant Industry_.
[Illustration: USDA Seal]
WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1904.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF, _Washington, D. C., December 10, 1903_.
SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a paper on Weeds Used in Medicine, and recommend that it be published as a Farmers’ Bulletin. This paper was prepared by Miss Alice Henkel, Assistant in Drug and Medicinal Plant Investigations, and was submitted by the Botanist with a view to publication.
Respectfully, B. T. GALLOWAY, _Chief of Bureau_. Hon. JAMES WILSON, _Secretary of Agriculture_.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduction 7
Collection and curing of drugs 7
Roots 8
Barks 9
Leaves and herbs 9
Flowers 10
Seeds 10
Disposal of the drugs 10
Descriptions of plants 10
Burdock 11
Dandelion 13
Docks 15
Yellow dock 15
Broad-leaved dock 16
Yellow-rooted water dock 18
Dock roots 18
Couch grass 19
Pokeweed 20
Foxglove 22
Mullein 24
Lobelia 26
Tansy 27
Gum plant 28
Scaly grindelia 29
Boneset 30
Catnip 31
Hoarhound 32
Blessed thistle 34
Yarrow 35
Canada fleabane 36
Jimson weed 37
Purple thorn-apple 39
Poison hemlock 39
American wormseed 41
Black mustard 42
White mustard 44
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
Fig. 1. Burdock, flowering plant 11
2. Burdock, first year’s growth 12
3. Dandelion 13
4. Dandelion root 14
5. Yellow dock, first year’s growth 15
6. Broad-leaved dock, first year’s growth 16
7. Leaf, fruiting spike, and root of broad-leaved dock 17
8. Yellow dock root 18
9. Couch grass 19
10. Pokeweed 21
11. Pokeweed, flowering and fruiting branch 22
12. Pokeroot 22
13. Foxglove 23
14. Mullein 25
15. Lobelia 26
16. Tansy 28
17. Gum plant 28
18. Scaly grindelia 29
19. Boneset 30
20. Catnip 32
21. Hoarhound 33
22. Hoarhound, flowering top 34
23. Blessed thistle 35
24. Yarrow 36
25. Canada fleabane 37
26. Jimson weed 38
27. Leaves, flower, and capsules of jimson weed 39
28. Poison hemlock 40
29. American wormseed 41
30. Black mustard 43
31. White mustard 44
B. P. I.—89. B. I. E.—55.
WEEDS USED IN MEDICINE.
INTRODUCTION.
It is a matter of interest, primarily to the farmer, that certain of the well-known weeds now either generally or locally infesting the country are the sources of crude drugs at the present time obtained wholly or in part by importation from abroad. Roots, leaves, and flowers of several of the species most detrimental in the United States are gathered, prepared, and cured in Europe, and not only form useful commodities there but supply to a considerable extent the demands of foreign lands. Hence it appears probable that while weeds can hardly be made desirable, still in his fight to exterminate them the farmer may be able to turn some of them to account. Some of the plants coming within this class are in many States at present subject to antiweed laws and farmers are required to take measures toward their extermination. It seems, therefore, desirable to make these pests sources of profit where possible. In many cases, when weeds have been dug, the work of handling and curing them is not excessive and can readily be done by women and children.
The prices paid for crude drugs from these sources are not great and would rarely tempt anyone to pursue this line of work as a business. Yet, if in ridding the farm of weeds and thus raising the value of the land the farmer can at the same time make these pests the source of a small income instead of a dead loss, something is gained.
In order to help the farmer to obtain the best possible prices for such products, instructions for collecting and preparing crude drugs derived from weeds are here briefly given. The collector should observe them carefully.
COLLECTION AND CURING OF DRUGS.
Too much emphasis can not be placed upon the importance of carefully and thoroughly drying all crude drugs, whether roots, herbs, leaves, barks, flowers, or seeds. If insufficiently dried, they will heat and become moldy in shipping, and the collector will find his goods rejected by the drug dealer and have all his trouble for nothing.
Another important matter to be considered in collecting drugs for market is freedom from foreign substances. All drugs should be clean and wholesome looking and contain no admixture of fragments of other plants, stones, dirt, or other impurities. A bright natural color is extremely desirable in leaves, herbs, and flowers, and adds much to the salability of the product. This can be readily brought about by giving careful attention to proper drying in the shade (not in direct sunlight), and by protection from dew or rain by placing the drugs under cover at nightfall or whenever necessary. Roots may be cleaned by washing, but leaves, herbs, and flowers should never be washed.
It is important also to collect drugs in proper season only. Neglect in this respect will bring nothing but disappointment to the gatherer, as drugs collected out of season not only are not acceptable to the dealer on account of inferior medicinal qualities, but there will also be, in the case of roots, a greater amount of shrinkage in a root dug during the growing season than will take place when it is collected after growth has ceased.
The collector should be sure that the plant he is collecting is the right one. There are many plants that closely resemble one another, yet one may possess medicinal properties and the other be absolutely useless. Again, a plant may contain very poisonous principles, and if represented to be something else, it might of course do untold injury. It would therefore be best, where any doubt exists, to send a specimen of the entire plant, including leaves, flowers, and fruits, to a drug dealer or to the nearest State experiment station for identification.
ROOTS.
Roots should never be collected during the growing season, as at that time they are deficient in medicinal properties, and they also shrink more in drying and weigh less than when gathered at full maturity.
The roots of annual plants should be dug just before the flowering period, and those of biennial or perennial plants after the tops have dried, the former in the autumn of the first year and the latter in the fall of the second or third year.
After the roots have been dug the adherent soil should be well shaken from them, and all foreign particles, such as stones, dirt, roots and parts of other plants, should be removed. If the roots can not be sufficiently cleared of soil by shaking, they should be thoroughly washed in clean water. It does not pay to be careless in this matter. The presence of soil increases the weight of the roots, but the intending purchaser is not willing to pay for the weight of the dirt, and grades the uncleaned drug accordingly. It is the clean, bright-looking root that will bring a good price.
After washing, the roots should be carefully dried. This can best be accomplished by exposing them to light and air (not direct sunlight) on racks or shelves, or on clean, well-ventilated barn floors or lofts. They should be spread out thinly and turned occasionally from day to day until completely cured. When this point is reached, in perhaps three to six weeks, the roots will snap readily when bent. During the curing process the roots, if dried out of doors, should be placed under shelter at night and upon the approach of rainy weather.
With some roots additional preparation is required, such as slicing and the removal of fibrous rootlets. Wherever this is necessary mention will be made of it under the descriptions of the different plants. In general, it may be said that large roots should always be split or sliced when green in order to facilitate drying.
BARKS.
The plants considered in this bulletin do not furnish medicinal barks, but inasmuch as there are certain sections of the country where trees furnishing such barks are rather abundant, directions for their collection may not be out of place here.
Barks of trees should be gathered in spring, when the sap begins to flow, but may also be peeled in winter. In the case of the coarser barks (as elm, hemlock, poplar, oak, pine, and wild cherry) the outer layer is shaved off before the bark is removed from the tree, which process is known as “rossing.” Only the inner bark of these trees is used medicinally. Barks may also be cured by exposure to sunlight. Moisture must be avoided.
LEAVES AND HERBS.
Leaves and herbs should be collected when the plants are in full flower. It is very desirable that they retain their bright green color after curing, and this can be done by careful drying in the shade. In the collection of leaves the whole plant may be cut and the leaves may be stripped from it, rejecting the stems as much as possible. In the case of herbs the coarse and large stems should be rejected and only the flowering tops and more tender stems and leaves included. All grasses, bits of other plants, and other foreign substances should be carefully removed, as well as dead, shriveled, diseased, and discolored specimens.
Both leaves and herbs should be spread out in thin layers on clean floors, racks or shelves, in the shade but where there is free circulation of air, and turned frequently until thoroughly dry. Moisture will darken them. The same precautions that are necessary in curing roots apply here also, so far as placing them under cover to avoid dew or rain is concerned.
FLOWERS.
Flowers are collected when they first open or immediately after—not when they are beginning to fade. To preserve the bright natural color as nearly as possible they should be carefully dried in the shade, in the same manner as directed for leaves and herbs.
SEEDS.
Seeds should be gathered just as they are ripening, before the seed pods open, and should be winnowed in order to remove fragments of stems, leaves, and shriveled specimens.
DISPOSAL OF THE DRUGS.
Samples representative of the lot of drugs to be sold should be sent to the nearest commission merchant, general store, or drug store, for inspection and for quotation on the amount of drug that can be furnished, or for information as to where to send the article. The size of the sample depends, of course, upon the kind of drug; from 3 to 4 ounces—or, say, at least a good handful—should be submitted. The package containing the sample should be plainly marked as regards contents, and the name and address of the sender given. In writing to the different dealers for information and prices, it should be stated how large a quantity of a particular drug can be furnished and how soon this can be supplied, and postage should always be inclosed for reply. In no case should the entire lot of collected drugs be sent to dealers without preliminary correspondence. The collector should bear in mind that freight is an important item, and it is best, therefore, to address such dealers as are nearest to the place of production. When ready for shipment, crude drugs may be tightly packed in burlap or gunny sacks, or in dry, clean barrels.
DESCRIPTIONS OF PLANTS.
The plants included in this bulletin are burdock, dandelion, the docks, couch grass, and pokeweed (principally root drugs); foxglove, mullein, lobelia, tansy, gum plant, scaly grindelia, boneset, catnip, hoarhound, yarrow, fleabane, blessed thistle, jimson weed, and poison hemlock (of which either the leaves, flowers, herb, or seeds are used in medicine); and also wormseed, and black and white mustards, of which the seeds only are used.
Descriptions of these plants follow, together with the common names by which they are known in different localities, the habitat (or, in other words, the kinds of places or soils in which they are likely to be found), their geographical range, information as to the parts to be collected, their uses, the extent to which they are imported and the prices usually paid by dealers.
The principal uses for which these plants are employed in medicine are briefly indicated, but none of the drugs mentioned should be taken without the advice of a physician.
With the exception of the figures for dandelion and mustard, which were obtained from the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor, the imports are based on estimates furnished by dealers, and the prices per pound, while serving to give an idea as to what may be expected for the drugs, will vary from year to year, depending principally upon supply and demand.
There are of course a large number of plants used in medicine that are not included in this bulletin, which is intended to cover only such medicinal plants as may be classed as weeds.
BURDOCK. _Arctium lappa_ L.
=Other common names.=—Cockle button, cuckold dock, beggars’ buttons, hurr-bur, stick button, hardock, and bardane. (Fig. 1.)
[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Burdock (_Arctium lappa_ L.). Flowering plant.]
=Habitat and range.=—Burdock is one of the most common weeds. It was introduced from the Old World, and is common and often very abundant in the Eastern and Central States and in some scattered localities in the West, growing along roadsides, in fields, pastures, and waste places.
=Description.=—This is a coarse, unsightly biennial weed of the aster family (Asteraceæ), which produces during the first year of its growth only a rosette of large, thin leaves (fig. 2) and a long, tapering root having a diameter of from one-half to 1 inch. When full grown it measures from 3 to 7 feet high. The round, fleshy stem is branched, grooved, and hairy, with very large leaves, even in the early stages of the growth of the plant, the lower leaves often measuring 18 inches in length. The leaves are alternate, on long, solid, deeply furrowed leafstalks; thin, roundish or oval, but usually heart-shaped; with even, wavy, or toothed margins; smooth above, and pale and woolly on the under surface. The flowers are purple, in small, clustered heads, appearing in the second year, from July to frost. These flower heads are armed with hooked tips, and the burs thus formed are a great pest, attaching themselves to clothing and to the wool and hair of animals. The seed of burdock is produced in great abundance, one plant bearing as many as 400,000 seeds.
=Parts used.=—The root alone is recognized in the United States Pharmacopœia, but there is a limited demand for burdock seed, and the leaves also are employed. Burdock roots and seeds are used in blood and skin diseases, and the leaves externally as a cooling poultice for swellings and ulcers, the latter being employed only in the fresh state.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Burdock. First year’s growth.]
Burdock has a large taproot, about 12 inches long, fleshy, the outside blackish-brown or grayish-brown, the inside light in color and spongy in the center. It is to be collected in the fall of the first year. The roots must be washed, split lengthwise, and carefully dried. Drying causes the root to lose about four-fifths of its weight, and to become scaly, and wrinkled lengthwise. Sometimes the bases of the leafstalks remain at the top of the root in the form of a small, white, silky tuft. The odor of the root is weak and unpleasant.
The seeds are oblong, curved, flattened, and angular, dark brown and sometimes spotted with black, and have no odor. These should be collected when ripe or nearly so.
=Imports and prices.=—About 50,000 pounds of lappa or burdock root are imported annually, and the best root is said to come from Belgium, where great care is exercised in its collection.
The price of the root ranges from 3 to 8 cents per pound, and that of the seed from 5 to 10 cents.
DANDELION. _Taraxacum taraxacum_ (L.) Karst. (_Taraxacum officinale_ Weber.)
[Illustration: FIG. 3.—Dandelion (_Taraxacum taraxacum_ (L.) Karst). (An unusually fibrous root.)]
=Other common names.=—Blow-ball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, fortune-teller, horse gowan, Irish daisy, yellow gowan, one o’clock. (Fig. 3.)
=Range and habitat.=—Dandelion is distributed as a weed in all civilized parts of the world, and in this country is naturalized from Europe. With the exception of the South, it is very abundant throughout the United States in fields and waste places, and it is especially troublesome in lawns and meadows.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Dandelion root, 16 inches long.]
=Description.=—The dandelion is so well known a weed, especially in lawns, that it scarcely requires a description, almost everyone being familiar with its rosette of coarsely toothed leaves, golden-yellow flowers, and round fluffy seed heads. It is a perennial plant of the chicory family (Cichoriaceæ), and it may be said to be in flower throughout almost the entire year. In spring the young leaves are collected and used for greens or salad, but the part employed in medicine is the root. The flowering stem of the dandelion is usually longer than the smooth, shining green, coarsely toothed leaves, reaching a height of from 5 to 10 inches. It is erect, smooth, naked, and hollow, bearing at the summit a solitary yellow flower head, which opens in the morning and only in fair weather. The entire plant contains a white, milky juice.
=Part used.=—As already stated, the root of dandelion is used medicinally. It is a large taproot, sometimes 20 inches long, thick and fleshy, dull-yellow or brownish on the outside, white inside, practically without odor, and bitter. (Fig. 4.) Dandelion is often used as a tonic in diseases of the liver and in dyspepsia.
The best time for digging dandelion root is from July to September, during which time the milky juice becomes thicker and the bitterness increases. It should be carefully washed and thoroughly dried. Dandelion roots decrease considerably in size by drying, weighing less than half as much as the fresh roots and becoming wrinkled lengthwise. The dried root should not be kept too long, as drying diminishes its medicinal virtues.
=Imports and prices.=—During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1903, the imports of taraxacum or dandelion root into the United States amounted to 115,522 pounds. The price per pound ranges from 4 to 6 cents.
DOCKS. _Rumex_ species.
Several species of docks possess medicinal properties. Among these are the yellow dock (_Rumex crispus_ L.), the broad-leaved dock (_R. obtusifolius_ L.), and the yellow-rooted water dock (_R. britannica_ L.), all more or less abundant throughout the United States. Other species are also recognized as possessing value in medicine, but those above mentioned are the kinds generally collected.
Yellow Dock. _Rumex crispus_ L.
=Other common names.=—Curled dock, narrow dock, sour dock. (Fig. 5.)
[Illustration: FIG. 5.—Yellow dock (_Rumex crispus_ L.). First year’s growth.]
=Range and habitat.=—The species most commonly employed in medicine is the yellow dock, a perennial introduced from Europe and now found throughout the United States as a troublesome and very persistent weed in cultivated as well as waste ground, among rubbish heaps, and along roadsides.
=Description.=—The deep, spindle-shaped root sends up an erect, angular, and furrowed stem about 2 to 4 feet high, leafy, branching near the top, and bearing numerous elongated clusters of inconspicuous flowers. The leaves are lance-shaped, acute, with the margins strongly waved and crisped. The lower leaves are obtuse or heart shaped at the base, from 6 to 8 inches in length, and are borne on long stalks, while those nearer the top are narrower and shorter, being only 3 to 6 inches long, on short stems or stemless.
From June to August the yellow dock puts forth, interspersed with leaves, its many long dense clusters of green, drooping groups of inconspicuous flowers placed in circles around the stem.
Broad-leaved Dock. _Rumex obtusifolius_ L.
=Other common names.=—Bitter dock, common dock, blunt-leaved dock, butter dock. (Fig. 6.)
[Illustration: FIG. 6.—Broad-leaved dock (_Rumex obtusifolius_ L.). First year’s growth.]
=Range and habitat.=—The range of this very common weed extends from the New England States to Oregon and south to Florida and Texas; it occurs in waste places.
=Description.=—Broad-leaved dock differs from the yellow dock principally in its more robust habit of growth. It grows to about the same height, but its stem is stouter, and the leaves, which are wavy along the margin as in the yellow dock, are much broader and longer. The lower leaves have long stalks, and are from 6 to 14 inches in length, with heart-shaped or roundish bases, while the upper ones are from 2 to 6 inches long and are on short stalks.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.—Leaf, fruiting spike, and root of broad-leaved dock.]
The green flowers appear from June to August, and are in rather long, open clusters, the groups rather loose and far apart. In all of the docks here mentioned, the three inner divisions of the calyx (outer covering of flower) in fruiting form a kind of triangular nut, like the grain of buckwheat (to which family, Polygonaceæ, the docks belong), and one or more of these divisions bear on the back a small granule. The difference between flower and fruit is barely distinguishable when seen from a little distance so long as the fruit is immature, both being green, but later in the season, as the fruit ripens, the spikes take on a rusty-brown color. (Fig. 7.)
Yellow-rooted Water Dock. _Rumex britannica_ L.
=Habitat and range.=—As the common name indicates, this plant frequents swampy and wet places and banks of streams. It is found from Canada to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and westward to Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa.
=Description.=—The yellow-rooted water dock is a taller plant than either of the docks previously mentioned, its stout stem sometimes reaching a height of 6 feet. The leaves at the base of the plant are borne on long stalks, and are from 1 to 2 feet in length, but, as with the other two species, the leaves toward the top of the plant are shorter, as are also the stalks supporting them. The densely flowered clusters are not as leafy as in the preceding species mentioned. The plant flowers from July to August.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.—Yellow dock root.]
Dock Roots.
The root, which is the part to be collected for medicinal purposes, is very similar in all of these species of dock (figs. 7 and 8), usually from 8 to 12 inches long, fleshy, often somewhat branched, the outside dark reddish-brown with a rather thick bark, internally yellowish. It possesses but a very faint odor and a bitter, astringent taste. The roots should be collected in late summer or autumn after the fruiting tops have ripened, then washed, split lengthwise into halves or quarters, and carefully dried.
The docks are largely employed for purifying the blood and as a remedy in skin diseases.
=Imports and prices.=—Rumex or dock roots are imported into this country to the extent of about 125,000 pounds annually. The price ranges from 2 to 8 cents per pound.
COUCH GRASS. _Agropyron repens_ (L.) Beauv. (_Triticum repens_ L.)
=Other common names.=—Dog-grass, quick-grass, quack-grass, quitch-grass, scutch-grass, twitch-grass, witch-grass, wheat-grass, Chandler’s grass, creeping wheat-grass, devil’s-grass, durfa-grass, Durfee-grass, Dutch-grass, Fin’s grass, quake-grass. (Fig. 9.)
=Range and habitat.=—Couch grass, like so many other pernicious weeds, was introduced into this country from Europe, and is now a most troublesome pest in cultivated ground, causing the farmer a loss of thousands of dollars annually by taking possession of fields and crowding out valuable crops. It is most abundant from Maine to Maryland, and westward to Minnesota and Missouri, but is rather sparingly distributed in the South. It is gaining ground on farms on the Pacific slope.