. Bulletin. AMERICAN MEDICINAL FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND SEEDS. The flowers are of two kinds, male and female, and are generally produced on separate plants, in April or May, the male flowers being borne in short, oval catkins, while the female flowers are arranged in a short cone, consisting of about five overlapping whorls. The fleshy, berrylike fruit which follows does not ripen until the second year. It is dark purple, covered with a pale-bluish bloom, roundish, and contains three bony seeds embedded in a brownish pulp. (Fig. 1.) Collection, uses, and prices.—The berries are used medicinally an
. Bulletin. AMERICAN MEDICINAL FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND SEEDS. The flowers are of two kinds, male and female, and are generally produced on separate plants, in April or May, the male flowers being borne in short, oval catkins, while the female flowers are arranged in a short cone, consisting of about five overlapping whorls. The fleshy, berrylike fruit which follows does not ripen until the second year. It is dark purple, covered with a pale-bluish bloom, roundish, and contains three bony seeds embedded in a brownish pulp. (Fig. 1.) Collection, uses, and prices.—The berries are used medicinally and should be collected when ripe, usually about October. They have an aromatic, somewhat spicy odor, and a pungent, turpentinelike, bitterish sweet taste. An oil, known as oil of juniper, is distilled from them, and is official in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. The oil content seems to vary according to the sections from which the berries are obtained. Most of the juniper berries of commerce come from the southern portions of Europe. Juniper berries are employed medic- inally for their stimu- lant and diuretic prop- erties. They are used also for flavoring gin. The price at present paid for juniper berries is about 2 to 21 cents a pound. SAW Fig. 2.—Saw palmetto (Sgrenoa serrulata), showing creep- ing stem. Serenoa serrulata (Michx.) Pharmacopceialname.— Sabal. Synonym.—Sabal serru- latum Roem. and Schult. Other common names.— Palmetto, dwarf pal- metto, fan palm. Habitat and range.— This palm is found in sandy soil from North Carolina and Arkansas to Florida and Texas. Description.—The saw palmetto is a fan-leaved palm, low and tufted, with a creeping, branching stem 4 to 8 feet long. The bright-green leaves are borne on a slender stalk edged with spines and are roundish in outline and fan shaped, the 15 to 30 divisions or segments slightly cleft at the top. (Fig. 2.) The spike (spadix) is thickly hairy, considerably shorter than the lea
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