LADIES' SLIPPER. Cypripedium pubescens. N.O. Orchidaceae.
Synonym : American Valerian, Mocassiu Flower, Nerveroot, Noah's Ark.
Habitat : United States of America.
Features Flower supposed to resemble a lady's shoe in form. Rhizome about quarter-inch diameter, many cup- shaped scars on top surface ; wavy, thickly-matted roots underneath. Fracture short and white.
Part used : Rhizome.
Action : Antispasmodic, tonic, nervine.
Combined with other tonics in the relief of neuralgia, and to allay pain generally. Of use in hysteria and other nervous disorders. Dose, 1 drachm of the powdered rhizome. Like other medicines of a similar nature, it is of little use unless the cause of the nervous excitement is traced and removed.
The remarks of Rafinesque, then Professor of Medical Botany in the University of Transylvania, are interesting in view of the "orthodox" attitude towards remedies of the herbalists : "I am enabled to introduce, for the first time, this beautiful genus into our materia medica ; all the species are equally remedial. They have long been known to the Indians, who called them moccasin flower, and were used by the empyrics of New England, particularly Samuel Thomson. Their properties, however, have been tested and confirmed by Dr. Hales, of Troy ; Dr. Tully, of Albany, etc. . . . They produce beneficial effects in all nervous diseases and hysterical affections by allaying pain, quieting the nerves and promoting sleep. They are preferable to opium in many cases, having no baneful or narcotic effect." Professor Rafinesque, however, goes even further than would Thomson and his successors when he announces that "all the species are equally remedial." LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY. Convallaria majalis. N.O. Liliaceae Synonym : Convallaria, May Lily.
Habitat : Grows wild in shady places in some of the English counties, but is rarely found in many others ; scarcely ever seen wild in Scotland and Ireland. Commonly cultivated in gardens.
Features : Leaves approximately five inches by two inches, broadly lanceolate, entire at edges, dark green, with parallel veins. Flowers small, sweet-scented, white, bell-shaped, pendulous, on distinct (eight to twelve-stalked) flower stem. Rhizome slender, cylindrical, pale brown, with eight to ten long, branched rootlets at each joint, internodes about two inches long.
Part used : Whole plant.
Action : Cardiac tonic, diuretic.
Enhances muscular functioning of heart and arteries, and is consequently used in cardiac debility. Has been recommended in dropsy. This herb is one of the substitutes for the digitalis of the allopaths, but it must be taken only in the prescribed doses, as larger quantities may result in purging and emesis. Dose, 1 tablespoonful of the 4 ounce to 1 pint boiling water infusion.
|
