Flora Medica

APIACE7E OR UMBELLIFERJE.The root is sweet, aromatic and tonic. Boerhaave reckons it asthe first of aperient diuretic roots. It has been recommended in gonorrhoea,suppression of the menses, and visceral obstructions, particularlyof the gall bladder and liver ; it has also the credit of being a decidedaphrodisiac. A good deal of candied root is still sold.69. E. maritimum Linn. sp. pi. 337. has similar propertiesbut in a less degree.CICUTA.Teeth of calyx leafy. Petals obcordate, with an inflectedlobe. Fruit roundish, double, contracted at the side. Halffruitswith 5 flattish equal ridges, the lateral of which form theborder. Channels each with 1 vitta ; commissure with 2 vittaebelow a loose skin. Perennial herbs, smooth, aquatic and poisonous.Stem taper, fistular. Leaves tripinnate or ternate.Involucre none, or few leaved; involucels many-leaved. Flowerswhite.70. C. maculata Linn. sp. pi 367. DC. prodr. iv. 99.Bigelow med. hot. i. t. 12. Common in wet meadows andbanks in the United States. (Snakeweed.)Root composed of a number of large, oblong, fleshy fangs, divergingfrom the base of the stem, and frequently of the size and length of thefinger. It is perennial, and has a strong, penetrating smell and taste.In various parts of the bark it contains distinct cells or cavities, whichare filled with a yellowish resinous juice. The plant is from 3 to 6feet high. Stem smooth, branched at top, hollow, jointed, striated,and commonly of a purple colour, except when the plant grows in theshade, in which case it is green. Leaves compound ;the largest about3 times pinnate, the uppermost only ternate. Most of the petiolesare furnished with long membranous sheaths, which clasp the stem.Leaflets, oblong, acuminate, serrate, the serratures very acute or mucronated;the veins end in the sinuses, and not at the points of theserratures. General involucre none. Involucels of very short, narrow,acute bracts. The distinctness or separation of these umbels characterisesthis plant at a distance among others of its kind, whoseumbels are more crowded. Calyx of 5 very minute segments. Petals5, white, obovate, with inflected points. Fruit nearly orbicular, compressed,10-furrowed, crowned at top, and separating into 2 semicircularhalves. Bigelow. A most dangerous poison resides in itsroots ;a drachm of the fresh root has killed a boy in an hour and ahalf; and in America fatal accidents arising from its being mistakenfor other apiaceous plantsare not uncommon. Has been used as a substitutefor conium, with similar effect except that it is more energetic.71. C. virosa Linn. sp. pi. 368. DC. prodr. iv. 99.Eng. Bot. t. 479. Nees and Eberm. pi. med. t. 285. handb.iii. 25. S. and C. ii. t. 89. Woodv. t. 268. Smith Eng.fi.ii. 63.Ditches and river banks through allEurope and Siberia.(Water Cowbane.)Root tuberous, hollow, with many whorled fibres, and several trans-34