. Bulletin. Agriculture. 46 AMERICAN ROOT DRUGS. sometimes slightlj tinged with red, from ti inches to a foot in height, and generally unbranched. The leaves alternate on the stem, are lance shaped or oblong lance shaped, thin in texture, 1 to 2 inches long, and stemless. The flowering spikes are borne on the ends of the stems and consist of I'ather crowded, small, greenish white, insignificant flowers. The flowering period of Seneca snakeroot is from May to June. The spike blossoms gradually, and when the lowermost flowers have already fruited the upper part of the spike is still in flower. T
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. Bulletin. Agriculture. 46 AMERICAN ROOT DRUGS. sometimes slightlj tinged with red, from ti inches to a foot in height, and generally unbranched. The leaves alternate on the stem, are lance shaped or oblong lance shaped, thin in texture, 1 to 2 inches long, and stemless. The flowering spikes are borne on the ends of the stems and consist of I'ather crowded, small, greenish white, insignificant flowers. The flowering period of Seneca snakeroot is from May to June. The spike blossoms gradually, and when the lowermost flowers have already fruited the upper part of the spike is still in flower. The seed capsules are small and contain two black, somewhat hairy seeds. (Fig. IS.) The short slender stalks supporting these seed capsules have a tendency to break off from the main axis before the seed is fully mature, leaving the spike in a rather ragged-looking condition, a^d the yield of seed, therefore, is not very large. Seneca snakeroot belongs to the milkwort family (Polygalaceie). A form of Seneca snakeroot, growing mostly in the North- Central States and distinguished by its taller stems a n d broader leaves, has been called Poh/f/ala .â ^(')irfja Yin: hitifolia. Description of ioot.âSeneca snake- root (fig. IS) is de- scribed in the United States P h a r m a - copoeia as follows: " Somewhat cylin- drical, tapering, more or less flexuous, .â > to 15 cm. long and 2 to 8 mm. thick, bearing several similar hori- zontal branches and a few rootlets ; crown knotty with numer- ous buds and short stem remnants; ex- ternally yellowish gray or brownish yellow, longitudinally wrinkled, usually marked by a.keel which is more promi- nent in perfectly dry roots near the crown; fracture short, wood light yellow, usually excentrically developed; odor slight, nauseating; taste sweetish, after- wards acrid." The Seneca suakeroots found in commerce vary greatly in size, that obtained from the South, which is really the official drug, being usually light colored and small