Page View
Bigelow, Jacob, 1786-1879 / American medical botany, being a collection of the native medicinal plants of the United States, containing their botanical history and chemical analysis, and properties and uses in medicine, diet, and the arts, with coloured engravings
(1820)
Aletris farinosa, Star grass, pp. [92]-98
Page [92]
ALETRIS FARINOSA.
Star Grass.
FRUTE L.
I Sow of no plant which surpasses the
Alteris farinosa in genuine, intense and perma-
nent bitterness. Neither aloes, gentian, nor
quassia exceed it in the impression produced on
the tongue. It has, on account of this property,
attracted the observation of some medical men,
and may hereafter become an article of more
consequence in the Materia Medica. Although
the number of trials, hitherto made, are perhaps
not sufficient to fix with precision its exact char-
acter, yet in a collection of American medicinal
vegetables it ought not to pass unnoticed.
This plant grows in most parts of the United
States in fields and about the edges of woods, and
flowers in June and July. I have found it near
Boston on the south, but never to the north of it.
Top of Page
Based on the date of publication, this material is presumed to be in the public domain.| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright