Number 8, Nerve Powder
American Valerian, or Lady Slipper. This is sometimes called Umbil, or male and female nervine.
There are four species of this valuable vegetable, one male and three females. The male is called yellow Umbil, and grows in swamps and wet lands; has a large cluster of fibrous roots matted together, joined to a solid root, which puts forth several stalks that grow about two feet high; it has leaves resembling the poke leaf. The female varieties are distinguished by the color of the blossoms, which are red, red and white, and white. The red has but two leaves, which grow out of the ground, and lean over to the right and left, between which a single stalk shoots up to a height of from eight to ten inches, bearing on its top a red blossom of a very singular form, that gives it the name of female umbil. This kind is found on high ledges and swamps. The red and white and white Umbil grows only in swamps, and is in larger clusters of roots than the yellow, but in a similar form; its top is similar to the red, except the color of the blossom. The yellow and red are the best for medicine;
76 THOMSONIAN SYSTEM
the roots should be dug in the fall when done growing, or in the spring, before the tops put forth. If dug when growing, the roots will nearly all dry up. When the roots are dug, they must be washed clean, carefully dried, and then ground into a powder, sifted through a fine sieve and preserved from the air for future use.
Next Page (73)