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 | Adders Tongue (American) Other Names: Serpent's Tongue. Dog's Tooth Violet. Yellow Snowdrop.
Botanical Name: Erythronium Americanum
Family: N.O. Liliaceae |
Description: |
The plant, which is quite smooth, grows from a small, slender, ovoid, fawn-coloured corm, 1/3 to 1 inch long which is quite deeply buried in the soil and is of solid, firm consistence and white and starchy internally.
The stem is slender, a few inches high, and bears near the ground, on footstalks 2 to 3 inches long, a pair of oblong, dark-green, purplish-blotched leaves, the blades about 2 1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide, minutely wrinkled, with parallel, longitudinal veins. The stem terminates in a handsome, large, pendulous, lily-like flower, an inch across, with the perianth divisions strongly recurved, bright yellow in colour, often tinged with purple and finely dotted within at the base, and with six stamens. It flowers in the latter part of April and early in May. |
Habitat: |
Eastern United States of America, from New Brunswick to Florida, and westwards to Ontario and Arkansas.
The American Dog's Tooth Violet or Adder's Tongue, Erythronium Americanum (Ker Gawl), is a very beautiful early spring flower of the Eastern United States of America, belonging to the Lily family. It grows in damp, open woodlands from New Brunswick to Florida and westwards to Ontario and Arkansas. |
Medicinal Usage: |
The constituents of the plant have not yet been analysed. The fresh leaves and corm, and to a lesser degree the rest of the plant, are emetic.
The fresh leaves having emollient and anti-scrofulous properties are mostly used in the form of a stimulating poultice, applied to swellings, tumours and scrofulous ulcers.
The infusion is taken internally in wineglassful doses. It is reputed of use in dropsy, hiccough and vomiting.
The recent bulbs have been used as a substitute for colchicum. They are emetic in doses of 25 to 30 grains. |
Ancient Lore: |
DOG'S TOOTH VIOLET
ERYTHRONIUM DENS CANIS
A very powerful remedy, and a small dose will take effect.
A very pretty plant with two broad leaves and a drooping flower. It grows five or six inches (13 or 15 cm) high. The leaves enclose a round, slender, weak stalk, green at the top and often white at the bottom. The flower is large and white with a tinge of red. It is long and hollow and hangs down. A very elegant plant.
Where to find it: A garden plant, but is also found in damp, open woodlands.
Flowering time: Early summer. Astrology. It is governed by the Moon.
Medicinal virtues: The freshly gathered roots are good against the worms in children and quickly ease the pains of the belly which the worms produce. The expressed juice is best, but if children will not take it, the roots should be boiled in milk. It is best to begin with a very small dose; and if that is well borne, to increase the quantity.
Modern uses: Eiythronium americanum is the variety now used. This is commonly known as American Adder's Tongue as well as, Dog's Tooth Violet. English Adder's Tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum) is dealt with separately in this book under Adder's Tongue. The American herb has a yellow flower. It is emetic, emollient and anti-scrofulous. The herb is mainly used externally as small internal doses cause vomiting. A poultice is made from the fresh leaves and applied to tumours, swellings and ulcers to stimulate healing. It is not recommended for internal use domestically. |
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