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Ginger, Wild | | Name : | Ginger, Wild | | Botanical : | Asarum canadense | | Synonyms : | Canada Snakeroot. Indian Ginger. Coltsfoot. | | Family : | Aristolochiaceae | | Parts Used : | Rhizome dried and roots. | | Habitat : | North America, North Carolina, Kansas. | | Description : | An inconspicuous but fragrant little plant, not over 12 inches high, found growing in rich soil on roadsides and in woods. A stemless perennial, much resembling the European Asarum, but with larger leaves, provided with a short spine, leaves usually only two, kidney-shaped, borne on thin fine hairy stems, dark above and paler green under-surface, 4 to 8 inches broad, strongly veined. A solitary bell-shaped flower, dull brown or brownish purple, drooping between the two leaf stems, woolly, the inside darker than the outside and of a satiny texture, the fruit a leathery six-celled capsule. It has a yellowish creeping rootstock, slightly jointed, with thin rootlets from the joints. In commerce the rootstock is found in pieces 4 to 5 inches long, 1/8 inch thick, irregular quadrangular, brownish end wrinkled outside, whitish inside, showing a large centre pith hard and brittle, breaking with a short fracture. Odour fragrant, taste aromatic, spicy and slightly bitter--it is collected in the autumn. | | Constituents : | A volatile oil once largely used in perfumery, also resin, a bitter principle called asarin, mucilage, alkaloid, sugar and a substance like camphor.
The plant yields its properties to alcohol and to hot water. | | Uses : | Stimulant, carminative, diuretic, diaphoretic. Used in chronic chest complaints, dropsy with albuminaria, painful spasms of bowels and stomach. | | Dosage : | 1/2 oz. of the powdered root in 1 pint of boiling water, taken hot, produces copious perspiration.
Dry powder, 20 to 30 grains.
As an adjuvant to tonic mixtures or infusions, 1/2 to 1 drachm. |
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