[Reprinted from »he Druggists' Bulletin, Aug,, »88<j.1 
PHORADENDRON FLAVESCENS, Nutt. 
{American Mistletoe.} 
BV H. H. RUSBY, M. D, 
The plant which we have selected for illustration 
this month is a very interesting one from several points 
of view. Amidst the dense forests of the tropics, para- 
sitical plants are so common as almost to constitute the 
majority of the species, but in our own temperate regions 
they are much less common. Among our species one of 
the most prominent is Phorad<nd> on flavescens. It 
grows throughout the warmer parts of the United States, 
extending into Mexico to the southward, and to the 
northward into southern New Jersey and well up into 
California. On account of its peculiar habit of growing 
upon trees, the ignorant idea prevails in many sections 
where it grows, that it is an outgrowth from the tree it- 
self, and many superstitions are associated with it. 
We bear in mind the instance of a willow tree in 
Florida under which a soldier was buried, and upon one 
of the lower branches of which developed, immedi- 
ately after the occurrence, a plant of Phoradendron 
which grew rapidly and soon formed a large semi-pendant 
mass. The inhabitants of that section firmly believed 
this growth was in some way associated with the 
ascending spirit of the deceased. The probability is that 
some bird of carrion which had recently been feeding 
upon the berries of the mistletoe, was attracted to the 
spot by the burial proceedings, and there deposited the 
seed from which the plant was produced. 
The Phoradendron grows upon a great variety of 
trees and shrubs, although it prefers cotton-woods and 
oaks. Its appearance is very peculiar. Its stems are 
greenish-yellow, semi-woody, but very weak, and so 
jointed that they are broken off with the greatest ease. 
At first erect, they soon become somewhat pendant, 
and branch freely so that the growing plant forms a 
dense mass, covering and enveloping the limb upon 
which it rests. The leaves are exceedingly fleshy, and 
like the stem, greenish-yellow and brittle; and they vary 
greatly in form from the obovate-spatulate to the lance- 
oblong, and in size from two inches in length by three- 
fourths as broad, to a small thing little larger than a 
common soup bean; are opposite and thickly dis- 
posed upon the stem, and borne upon a short, thick peti- 
ole. The flowers are exceedingly inconspicuous, and 
would scarcely be visible except for the fact that they 
are borne in longish spikes upon a thick rachis, so that 
while the individual flowers are hardly to be seen, the 
inflorescence is somewhat prominent. They are uni- 
sexual, but both forms are quite similar. The fruit is an 
almost globular, whitish, semi-transparent and very viscid 2 
berry. These berries are quite freely eaten by bird®, at 
least by some species, without injurious effects; but 
to man they ate apparently poisonous, the symptoms be- 
ing very similar to those produced by the berries of the 
European mistletoe, of which we shall speak farther on. 
Little is known concerning the composition or constitu- 
ents of the plant, but it enjoys quite a local celebrity in 
the Southern States as an oxytocic. Dr. W. H. Long, 
we believe, was among the first to report upon its value 
in this direction, and declared that he found it of great 
value in arresting all forms of uterine haemorrhage, even 
including the post-partum. As an oxytocic, he gave a 
drachm of the fluid extract very much in the same way 
as ergot is administered. While the properties of this 
plant are scarcely referred to in standard works, yet we 
know its use to be very general in many parts of the south, 
and every now and again some practitioner reports upon its 
efficiency. What degree of importance it really pos- 
sesses is very difficult to say in the present state of our 
knowledge. There are so many distinctly nervous phe- 
nomena connected with the process of parturition, that it 
is extremely difficult to determine from clinical trial 
what the physiological action of any such drug really is; 
otherwise we should be compelled to place considerable 
reliance upon the many reports which have been pub- 
lished concerning the efficacy of this remedy. 
In this connection some general remarks upon the 
natural order to which the Phoradendron belongs, may 
prove of interest. 
The Loranthacese are parasitical plants with the ex- 
ception of a few terrestrial species. They exist in nearly 
all the warmer parts of the world. The family is best 
known through its English representative, the Viscum 
album or mistletoe, which was prominently connected 
with the religious rites of the Druids, and has become 
classical in literature. Many tons of this plant are annu- 
ally used in Christmas festivities, both in England and 
in this country. With the genus Viscum our Phoraden- 
dron was associated during the early history of this 
country, when it was known as Viscum flavescens, Pursh., 
but the distinguishing characteristics between the two 
genera were soon pointed out. Like Phoradendron 
Viscum has inconspicuous and aimost imperceptible 
flowers. This character, however, does not apply 
throughout the entire family. I have seen the trunks of 
poplar trees in the vicinity of Valparaiso brilliantly cov- 
ered with the scarlet flowers of a Loranthus, and some of 
the Brazilian genera furnish species whose flowers are of 
great splendor. 
The general vegetative characters of Phoradendron 
apply throughout most of the order, although, as pre- 
viously stated, a few of them are terrestrial, and a few 
climb slightly by means of tendrils. They are, too, 
nearly all furnished with berry-like fruits, possessing a 3 
pericarp which is rich in viscin, one of the most glutin- 
ous substances known. Upon this constituent depends 
one of the very few economic uses of the family, as it 
serves as a basis for bird-lime. Not only is this property 
thus utilized in Europe, but among the natives of the 
South American count ies I have also seen a rude mix- 
ture prepared from species of Loranthus, which was used 
for the capture of small birds. In India it is stated that 
the same substance has been used for the capture of 
tigers and other huge beasts. To this substance are 
also due, perhaps, the fatal effects which have occasion- 
ally resulted from the eating the berries of various 
species of this order. Although some of the symp- 
toms produced would seem to indicate a genuine 
poison, yet it is generally considered that the ill-effects 
are due to mechanical injury produced by the glutin- 
ous coat of the seed-;, an impermeable mass being 
formed in the stomach or intestine. The object of this 
viscid property, so far as the plant is concerned, is un- 
questionably to aid in the distribution and safe lodging 
of its seeds. Many birds are exceedingly fond of the 
fleshsy covering of the seeds, but in devouring, are un- 
able to disconnect it from the latter, so that they are 
broadly distributed through this medium. On account 
of the same property, the seeds find secure lodgment 
upon the boughs of the trees, where they subsequently 
take root and draw their nourishment ready formed from 
the host-plant. Other uses which have been found for 
various species are the production of a black dye from 
the Phrygilanthus tetrandrus (R.. & P.), Eichler, and 
other species; the preparation of an ointment for tumors 
from the Struthianthus marginatus (Desr.), Eichler; and 
of a pectoral remedy from the 5. rotunlifolius (St. HiL), 
Eichler, with the addition of milk and sugar. 
As regards the medicinal properties of the order in 
general, we possess about as little knowledge as we do 
concerning those of the species under consideration. 
Viscum album has long been reputed to possess anti- 
spasmodic properties, but it has gone entirely out of use; 
and in large doses it is said to be emetic and cathartic. I 
have been struck by the fact that in the Andean sections 
which I have visited, various of the order have 
been used by the natives for their effects upon the 
uterine function. Thus in Yungas and Mapiri I found 
a species of Phoradendron (which has since been named 
in honor of its discoverer by my friend Dr. Britton) 
which was said to act favorably as a uterine sedative and 
to prevent abortion. Its use, seemed to me at the time 
to be possibly dependent upon the native appreciation of 
the fixing power of its berries, on account of their glutin- 
ous properties. Thus another remedy which was given 
for the same purpose was the ashes produced by burning 
sealing-wax and a red ribbon. Here the idea unques- 
tionably was that the binding power of the ribbon and 4 
the adhesive power of the sealing-wax could in some 
way be imparted to the organs of the body. I there- 
fore inferred that the same idea might determine the use 
of this native species of mistletoe. • This species was 
there popularly known as soldar-consoldar, in apparent 
allusion to the peculiar manner in which the successive 
joints of the floral spike are attached, as it were, by 
soldering. In other localities I found P. Mandoni, 
Eichler, and Loranthuspyrifolius, H. B. K., credited with 
similar properties. 
Botanically considered, the Loranthaceoe are inter- 
esting from the fact that their ovules are destitute of 
coats. There are no species of true Viscum in America. 
They are distinguished from the genus Phoradendron by 
having the anthers affixed at the middle of the perianth- 
segments, while in Phoradendron they are affixed at the 
base. In the same way it is distinguished from the 
American genus Arceuthobium, although one of its spe- 
cies, P. Juniperinum, Eng., closely resembles the Arceu- 
thobium in general appearance. In the tropics the 
Phoradendrons, of which there are about eighty known 
species, all American, are ordinarily associated with 
many species of Loranthus, but the two genera are read- 
ily distinguished from the fact that the flowers of Loran- 
thus possess a double perianth. (An elaborate account 
of the nature and habits of the Loranthacaae is given in 
the preliminary pages of Eichler's monograph in the 
Flora Braziliensisl) 
The following description of Phoradendron is taken 
from Bintham and Hooker's Genera Plantarum-. "Flow- 
ers dioecious or rarely monoecious, sessile, or lightly im- 
mersed upon the rachis of the spike. Tube of the peri- 
anth in the male flowers, short, solid; in the pistillate 
flowers, adnate to the ovary; in both, the limb three- 
parted, or rarely four- or two-parted. Stamens in the 
male flower affixed at the base of the segments, erect, the 
filaments very short or obsolete; anthers broadish, two- 
celled at the apex, the cells longitudinally dehiscent. 
Disk in both sexes fleshy. Ovary in the female flowers 
inferior. Style very short, thick, subconical; stigma ob- 
tuse or subcapitate. Berry sessile, globose or rarely 
ovoid, usually crowned by the minute segments of the 
perianth; the viscid pericarp usually succulent, the endo- 
carp usually distinct. Seeds ovoid or oblong; embryo 
small, imbedded in copious fleshy albumen, or the radicle 
shortly exserted. Shrubs parasitical on trees, the branch- 
es terete, angular or rarely compressed, usually articu- 
late. Leaves opposite, plane, thick, or rarely reduced to 
small distinct scales. Spikes terminal or axillary, solitary 
or two- to many-fasicled, usually indefinite articulate, 
minutely two-bracteolate at the articulations. Flowers 
superposed upon both sides of the broad rachis in two to 
many series, or rarely crowded in a few shortened articu- 
lations. 5 
MONTHLY REVIEW. 
The report of the Committee of the New York 
State Pharmaceutical Ass< ciation on Adulteration is full 
of interest (and we had almost said of discouragement), 
for those who appreciate the importance to a successful 
medical practice of a uniformly good quality of the drugs 
dispensed upon prescriptions. Of dilute acetic acid 15 
samples were examined, the strength ranging from 1.9 
to 26.8. only two being alike. Well may the committee 
inquire: "How can it be possible for a doctor ever to 
be sure of his dose when the same prescription will in 
one store bring fourteen times more than in another?" 
Seven samples of spirit of nitrous ether varied so 
greaty "that the patient would need to take 
about a pint of one to equal a teaspoonful of an- 
other." This statement is followed by the pertinent 
query: "What earthly chance could a doctor have in 
trying to save a patient's life by reducing excessive tem- 
perature with such an article?" Of 50 samples o. Hoff- 
man'- anodyne, only eight were of good quality, and only 
five others were even fair. Of 17 samples of iodide of 
potassium, none cane up to the pharmacopceial stand- 
ard, and only seven or them could be accounted fair. Of 
40 samples of crocus, U. S. P., not one contained any 
crocus, all consisting of safflower Oat of 48 samples of 
precipitated sulphur only 18 were good, while a large 
number were positively dangerous. Almost all the other 
articles examined showed similar shocking imperfections. 
Comment upon such a report as this is entirely unneces- 
sary. The fault lies with the medical profession as well 
as with the pharmacists. Sa long as physicians will not 
interest themselves in the quality of the drugs dispensed 
upon their prescriptions, so long do they allow one phar- 
macist to be forced into adulteration by his price-cutting 
neighbor. 
In the Therapeutic Gazette for July, page 447 Dr. D. 
W. Prentiss reports three unusually interesting ca-es of 
poisonmg by Rhus toxicodendron and its congeners. One 
of these was from homeopathic pellets of Rhus. The 
doctor does not state what " dilution " these pellets repre- 
sented. but it must have been a remarkably low one. 
The second case was one in which a gentleman had 
been dreadfully poisoned on opening a bottle of Japan- 
ese lacquer which had been unopened in the National 
Museum for years. The symptoms and course of the 
disease, and its behavior under treatment, were pre- 
cisely the same as in cases of ordinary Rhus poisoning. 
Perhap- the most remarkable feature of the case was the 
fact that although the poison-a volatile acid-was in- 
haled freely, no poisonous effect was produced upon 
any portion of the mucous membrane. The gentleman 
described his sensations at the instant that the bottle 
was open as follows: "There was a feeling as of a 
warm breath over the face, and a suffocating, disagree- able odor which he said he could not liken to any known 
odor. It was neither musty nor- pungent, but very un- 
pleasant." The report contains an interesting reference 
to the manufacture of lacquer in Japan. 
The third case of poisoning is even more surprising 
and instructive. It seems that a gentleman encounter- 
ing some large seeds with which he was unfamiliar, 
sawed one of them open to examine its structure, where- 
upon some gummy matter, exuding from just within the 
integuments, was deposited upon his hands. The result 
was a severe case of Rhus poisoning. The seeds proved 
to be those of Anacardium ociidentale or Cashew. This 
is the first case that we have ever seen reported of pois- 
oning by a species of Anacardium, although, owing to its 
close relationship to Rhus, the information is not sur- 
prising. 
These seeds are said to be very generally roasted 
and eaten by people in South America. Dr. Prentiss 
makes one slight error when he says: "The nut grows 
in a curious way upon the outside of the fruit in its dis- 
tal extremity." The nut really is the fruit, that which 
appears to be the fruit being in fact only the stem there- 
of. When the fruit first makes its appearance it is bean- 
shaped and borne upon the end of a stout stem. In the 
process of ri ening, this stem enlarges greatly, becoming 
succulent and pear-shaped, and as large as a small Bart- 
lett pear. It has a disagreeable, astringent flavor, but is 
eaten in a fresh state by the inhabitants of the countries 
where it grows. From it also, an excellent wine quite 
closely resembling Madeira, is produced, and this is 
credited with possessing important medicinal properties, 
making it of great value in torpidity of the liver. Under 
these circumstances we can only look upon it as remark 
able that poisonous properties have been found to exist 
in its seeds. It may be that these properties have been 
developed as a result of the long time during which the 
seeds had been preserved. This is rendered the more 
probable from the fact that the poisonous properties of 
the bottle of lacquer had evidently increased as a result 
of age. 
Dr. Prentiss highly recommends the following lini- 
ment in cases of Rhus poisoning: 
G Acidi carbolici, I. 
Ol. lini, 
Aq. calcis, aa 50. 
Apply constantly over the inflamed surfaces, and 
in addition a ten per cent, solution of carbolic acid to be 
applied over any intensely itching part. 
On page 174 of the Druggists' Circular is a transla- 
tion of a paper by Dr. O. Hesse on the " Chemistry of 
the Coca Bases," which is of much interest. It appears 
that this writer and Dr. Liebermann have arrived at re- 
sults differing considerably from one another in their in- 
6 1 
2 
3 
,a.\ 
EXPLANATION OF CUT. 
Illustration of Phoradendron jlavescens reduced one-fifth, from dried specimens in herbarium of Columbia College. 
Fig. i, male plant; Fig. 2, female plant: both collected by Mr. William M. Canby, at Hibernia, Florida. Host plant 
not reported. Fig. 3, leaf of specimen collected by Dr. E. A Mearns, at Fort Verde, Arizona. Host plant a species of 
Populus. Fig. 4, leaf of the var. villosumy collected on the Upper Sacramento, California, on the Wilkes' Exploring 
Expedition. Host plant not reported. Fig. 5, leaf of the var. tomentosum, Watson, collected by Mr. C. G. Pringle. 
Jimulco, Mexico, on a species of Prosopis. 7 
vestigation of this subject. The paper is too long to be 
reviewed in this place, but we cannot but be in sympathy 
with Prof. Lieberm inn in his claim that coca leaves con- 
tain a volatile base which acts as a heart-poison. Our 
own experience with the properties of native coca leaves 
has been ve~y extensive, and long before any announce- 
ment was made of the existence in them of bases other 
than cocaine, we had become strongly convinced that 
such was the case, and that it was to those bases and not 
to cocaine that the leaves owed their stimulating and 
supporting properties. 
Quoting Dr. T. Frederick Pearse in Knowledge, 
Science says Experimentally, coca appears to act in 
small d >ses as a stimulant to the nervous system, affect- 
ing first of all the cerebral hemispheres, next the 
medulla, and lastly the spin d cord. It lessens the feel- 
ing of fatigue, but the only mental effect seems to be an 
exhilaration of spirits. Like caffeine, it increases the 
rapidity of the heart-beat and raises the blood pressure." 
It would have been much nearer the truth to have said 
that coca is unknown experimentally in this country. 
The present writer has already fully established the fact 
that coca leaves after having been exported to Europe 
or North America have so far changed their nature as to 
no longer represent the substance chewed by the South 
American Indians. The only real representation of the 
genuine native coca leaves is to be found in the Lorini 
elixir of native coca, imported by Messrs. Parke, Davis 
& Co, and which is now attracting great attention on 
account of the marked difference between its action, 
particularly in the exhaustion produced by typhoid fever 
and similar diseases, and that of preparations made from 
imported leaves. 
Dr. S'lva Nunez claims that vomiting as a result of 
the administration of lobelia is due to the disagreeable 
taste of the preparation, rather than to any specific 
emetic properties of the drug itself. This action he 
avoids by using the active principle lobelin instead. He 
administers doses of from three-fourths of a grain to six 
grains, and finds it of marked value in the cure of 
asthma. However free from nauseating properties lobe- 
lin may be, we cannot accept the doctor's statement 
that lobelia itself possesses no specific emetic properties, 
and that nausea is the result of the disagreeable taste of 
the drug. 
In the July Bulletin for 1888, p. 194, we presented 
an imperfect specimen illustration from a dried specimen 
of Anhalonium Lewinii, Henning, which, under the name 
of " Muscale Buttons " has been introduced as a cardiac 
remedy. In Gartenflora for August, 1888, appeared an 
excellent figure of this plant, showing the flower and 
fruit, and compared with a fine illustration on the same 
page of the most closely related species Anhilonium 
Williamsii, Lem., taken from a living plant in the Berlin gardens. Accompanying the.description is the following 
diagnosis of characters: 
" Caule brevi subcylindrico crasso tuberculato, tuber- 
culis latis subpolyedtiis ad medium pulvillo tomentoso 
demum deraso ornatis, 12-serialibus, apice vi.lo densiss- 
imo albo-sericeo instructo. Flore parvo, sepalis biseri* 
alibus oblongis, apice mucrone triangulari argenteo- 
scarioso basi hinc inde sub-serrulato instructis; pttalis 
sepala vix superantibus, stylo petalis subaequilongo, 
stamina manifesto superante." 
The active principle of Tonghinia toxifera was pre* 
sented to the French Academy of Sciences by Dr. 
Arnaud as an active heart poison similar to Strophan- 
thine. The Tonghinia is quite clos ly related to Stro- 
phanthus, and yields to the natives the extract Tonguin 
which is used as an ordeal poison. 
A most remarkable communication presented by 
Dr. Peyraud to the French Academy of Medicine, and 
which has been examined and acc pted by a special 
Committee by them appointed, is to the effect that a dis- 
ease very similar to hydrophobia may be produced by 
the hypodermic injection of oil of tansy. 
Our common weed, Shepherd's Purse, has been 
known from very ancient times to be of value as a haemo- 
static. Its use for this purpose is now being recom- 
mended. 
From the Therapeutic Gazette for July we learn that 
an attempt is being made in France to revive the use of 
Solidago virgaiirea as a diuretic. 
In the Druggists' Circular for August, p. 173. is re- 
printed from the Chemist and Druggist awry interesting 
paper on the subject of " Patchouly, Oil and Leaves." 
According to the Pharmaceutical Era, whole coffee 
grains, made in C >logne from burnt flour or meal, 
may be ttadily distinguished from the genuine by 
their property of sinking in ether. 
Dr. Han> Herman Behr in a paper read before the 
A. P. A. at the San Francisco meeting, mentioned a large 
number of poisonous or suspicious plants indigenous to 
California which are considered worthy of investigation. 
Mr. M. Rockwell of the School of Pharmacy, Uni- 
versity of Mi higan, presented to the Am. Phar. Ass'n at 
its San Francisco meeting, an interesting report of his 
micn-scopical ami chemical investigation of Pichi (Fabi- 
ana imbneata, K. and P.). An excellent illustration is 
presented ol the microscopical structure of the wood and 
also of crystals of the hydrochlorate of the alkaloid. 
At t he same meeting a very interesting paper was pre- 
sented by J nuts G. Steele on the " Pines of California." 
Eighteen species are named, of which all but four are 
classed as pitch pines. 
8 9 
A Pharmacy as it Should Be.-We had occasion 
recently to refer to the establishment of a liberally 
equipped pharmacy in Baltimore, devoted wholly to the 
prescription business. It gives us great pleasure this 
month to record a visit to a similar establishment just 
organized by Mr. F. E. Morgan, at 1629 Walnut street, 
Philadelphia. Mr. Morgan was recently at 1412 and 
1414 Walnut street, where he was burned out in the 
great Wyeth fire. His new pharmacy is one of the most 
elegant and tasteful we have ever visited. Not a pack- 
age of proprietary medicine, no soda water, no knick- 
knacks are to be seen. Merely an exquisitely finished 
room with a table in the centre, upon which stands a fine 
microscope and other scientific appurtenances, and the 
legitimate stock of a pharmacist tastefully disposed in 
cases about the room. In the rear is the large, perfectly 
equipped and ably manned prescription room, where 
order and cleanliness reign supreme. 
In Philadelphia, legitimate pharmacy can not be con- 
sidered an experiment, as its success has already been 
clearly demonstrated. Among others, Mr. Robert Mc- 
Neil, Jr., has for many years done a successful b isiness 
of this nature at Howard and York streets.-H. H. R.