Abalon albiflorum.
ABALON (Adamson) ALBIFLORUM, Raf. Blazing Star, Devil's Bit, Devil's Root, Rattle-snake Root, Eenhorn, &c. (Veratrum luteum, L. Melanthium dioicum, T. Helonias dioica of others.) Root large tuberous, nauseous, pungent bitter. It is tonic, diuretic, sialagogue, and vermifuge. In large doses, emetic. The plant kills cattle feeding on it. The decoction kills insects, bugs, and lice. Corn steeped 24 hours in it before sowing, is not eaten by birds. Used by empirics and Indians for cholics, fevers, worms, &c. As wash in scurvy, which produces diuresis by the mere external application. Carver relates an Indian story about being once a cure for all disorders, the devil bit off part of the root to lessen its value, whence the name. It has been driven from genus to genus, while it was a peculiar one. I have adopted the good name of Adamson. The flowers are white and not yellow, in dioical racemes. Estival, from New England to Florida and Kentucky, in meadows and savannas.
