Dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale).
Collections and Uses — Late in summer and in fall the milky juice becomes thicker and the bitterness increases and this is the time to collect dandelion root. It should be carefully washed and thoroughly dried. Dandelion roots lose considerably in drying, weighing less than half as much as the fresh roots. The dried root should not be kept too long, as drying diminishes its medicinal activity. It is official in the United States Pharmacopeia.
Dandelion is used as a tonic in diseases of the liver and in dyspepsia.
Imports and Prices — Most of the dandelion root found on the market is collected in central Europe. There has been an unusually large demand for dandelion root during the season of 1907 and according to the weekly records contained in "the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter" the imports entered at the port of New York from January 1, 1907, to the end of May amounted to about 47,000 pounds. The price ranges from 4 to 10 cents a pound.
Soapwort.
Saponaria Officinalis L.
Other Common Names — Saponaria, saponary, common soapwort, bouncing-bet, soaproot, bruisewort, Boston pink, chimney-pink, crow-soap, hedge-pink, old maid's pink, fuller's-herb, lady-by-the-gate, London-pride, latherwort, mock-gilliflower, scourwort, sheepweed, sweet-betty, wild sweet-william, woods-phlox, world's wonder.
Habitat and Range — By one or another of its many common names this plant, naturalized from Europe, is known almost everywhere, occurring along roadsides and in waste places.
Description of Plant — Soapwort is a rather pretty herbaceous perennial, 1 to 2 feet high, and belonging to the pink family (Silenaceae). Its smooth, stout and erect stem is leafy and sparingly branched, the leaves ovate, 2 to 3 inches long, smooth, prominently ribbed, and pointed at the apex. The bright looking, crowded clusters of pink (or in shady localities whitish) flowers appear from about June until far along in September. The five petals of the corolla are furnished with long "claws" or, in other words, they are narrowly lengthened toward the base and inserted within the tubular and pale green calyx. The seed capsule is oblong and one-celled.