102. Hydrophyllaceae.—Waterleaf family.

464. Eriodictyon.—Yerba santa. Mountain balm. Consumptive's weed.

The dried leaves of Eriodic'tyon Californicum Greene.

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS.—Low shrubs with alternate leaves. Calyx of narrow sepals; corolla violet or purple, occasionally white, with the filaments adherent to it; ovary 2-celled. Fruit a small capsule.

HABITAT.—California, and in mountains of Northern Mexico.

DESCRIPTION OF DRUG.—Oblong-lanceolate, from 50 to 100 mm. (2 to 4 in.) long, 10 to 30 mm. (2/5 to 1 1/5 in.) broad, with a sharp apex, and narrowed at the base into a short foot-stalk; margin sinuate or almost entire; upper surface brownish-green and varnished with a resinous coating; under surface greenish-white, hairy, with a prominent midrib and distinct reticulations; brittle, odor aromatic; taste balsamic, sweetish, free from bitterness.

RELATED SPECIES.—Eriodictyon tomentosum, growing with the other, is large and has a dense coat of short, villous hairs, becoming whitish or mustycolored with age.

Powder.—Characteristic elements: See Part iv, Chap. 1, B.

CONSTITUENTS.—Volatile oil, an acrid resin, tannin, ericolin, C₃₄H₅₆O₂₁.

ACTION AND USES—Long used in California as a stimulant balsamic expectorant. Its preparations are principally used, however, as vehicles to disguise the taste of disagreeable medicines like quinine. Dose: 15 to 30 gr. (1 to 2 Gm.).

OFFICIAL PREPARATION.

Fluidextractum Eriodictyi Dose: 15 to 30 drops (1 to 2 Mils).

A Manual of Organic Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy, 1917, was written by Lucius E. Sayre, B.S. Ph. M.