WAFER ASH Ptelea trifoliata, L.( N. O.: Rutaceae)
Common Names: Wingseed, Hoptree, Shrubby Trefoil, Swamp Dogwood. Features: Wafer ash is a shrub common to America, growing most abundantly west of the Alleghenies in sandy moist places and edges of woods and also in rocky places. This handsome shrub is 6 – 8 ft. high with dark brown branches; the leaves are downy beneath when young; trifoliate and marked with pellucid dots. The June flowers are polygamous, greenish-white, nearly ½ in. in diameter, and of a disagreeable odour; usually four stamens; short styles and the fruit a two-celled samara. The light-brown root bark is wrinkled with a thin epidermis, internally yellowish-white, darkens with exposure; odour peculiar, aromatic; taste bitter. Petelein is its active principle. Medicinal Part: Root bark. Solvents: Boiling water( partially), alcohol( more completely). Bodily Influence: Tonic, Antiperiodic, Stomachic, Stimulant. Uses: It is used for the same purpose as Quinine and may be tolerated by the stomach when other tonics are rejected. Useful for low fever with gastro-intestinal irritation and typhoid conditions. It has a soothing influence upon the mucous membrane in all cases of debility and during intermittent and remittent chills and fever and febrile diseases where a tonic is indicated. Regarded as a remedy for asthma when tinctured with whisky and taken in doses of 1 – 2 tablespoonfuls every 2 – 3 hr. It is very useful as a promoter of the appetite. The leaves and young shoots are anthelmintic and the fruit( samara) aromatic, bitter and a good substitute for Hops. 1 teaspoonful of the root bark, cut small, to 1 cupful of boiling water. Drink 1 cupful throughout the day a mouthful at a time. Of the powder, 10 – 30 grains. Of the tincture, 1 – 2 drams. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of root bark— Asthma, Constipation, Dysentery, Dyspepsia, Erysipelas, Gall-stones, Gastralgia, Headache( gastric; bilious), Intermittents, Jaundice, Liver( congestion of), Nightmare, Phosphaturia, Rheumatism, Spleen( affections of), Worms.
WAHOO Euonymus atropurpureus, Jack.( N. O.: Celastraceae)
Common Names: Indian Arrowroot, Burning Bush, Spindle Tree, Euonymus, Pegwood, Bitter Ash. Features: Wahoo in botany is a name of American Indian origin, most commonly applied to a large shrub, or small tree, 6 – 25 ft. tall native to North America.( The name Wahoo is also given to an Elm( Ulmus alata) and another variety, Euonymus americanus.)
E. atropurpureus has obtusely four-angled twigs; leaves, 2 – 5 in. long, oval in shape, with finely toothed margins and covered below with fine hairs. The purple flowers, appearing in May or June, are about ½ in. across are borne in groups of seven to fifteen on a short stalk. The fruit is a deeply four-lobed purple capsule bearing brown seeds covered with a scarlet aril. The plant grows in many sections of the United States, in woods and thickets and river bottoms. The bark of the root has a bitter and unpleasant taste.