Volume 1

Drugs and medicines of North America : a publication devoted to the historical and scientific discussion of botany, pharmacy, chemistry and therapeutics of the medical plants of North America, their constituents, products and sophistications ... v. 1-2; [Apr. 1884-June 1887].

Date:
1884-1887. [Cincinnati, Lloyd Library, 1930-31]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Drugs and medicines of North America : a publication devoted to the historical and scientific discussion of botany, pharmacy, chemistry and therapeutics of the medical plants of North America, their constituents, products and sophistications ... v. 1-2; [Apr. 1884-June 1887]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Fig. 21. Leaf of Ranunculus repens. at the base. The flowers ap- pear in the spring, and are of a glossy yellow color. After flow- ering, the plant sends out from its base creeping runners, whence the specific name. The leaves are three-parted, and the leaflets all stalked. Ranunculus repens possesses the acrid principle only in a mild degree. It is called Creeping Crowfoot. Ranunculus sceleratus Linn.— This plant differs much in ap- pearance from those previously described, and belongs to a sep- arate section of the genus. The flowers are small and inconspic- uous, and the fruit-heads are cylindrical. The stem is erect, smooth, succulent and hollow. The leaves are all three-parted, or three-lobed, with few-toothed lobes. This plant grows in wet situations, and is found also in Europe. It is probably the most acrid of our native species, and is called Cursed Crowfoot. Ranunculus abortivus Linn.—This plant is a common weed in fields and around dwellings in most parts of the country. It bears inconspicuous yellow flowers in spring, which are followed by small globular fruit-heads, and Fig 22 it withers away and dies in June, shortly after the F!owel ofRa““ncul^ssceleratus en- J J J larged three diameters). fruit has ripened. There is a marked contrast in the shape of the leaves: the radical are round-cordate, crenate, and petiolate; the upper are sessile, three-parted, with linear, entire divisions; the intermediate leaves partake more or less of the character of both forms. As this plant is common in most sections, and possesses in a marked degree the acrid principle* of the family, we introduce a cut by which it can be at once recognized. (See Fig. 23, next page.) Characteristics.—The entire plant of most species of Ranunculus is acrid, the full-grown, green fruit and the root being especially active. To the taste they are peppery and pungent, reminding us of mustard or horse-radish. *This is the species from which we derived the acrid principle for our experiments.