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Indigo (Wild)otanical: Baptisia tinctoria (R. BR.)Family: N.O. Leguminosae Synonyms: Baptisia. Horse-fly Weed. Rattlebush. Indigo-weed. Sophora tinctoria (Linn.). Podalyria tinctoria (Michx.) Parts Used: Root, bark, leaves. Habitat: Dry hily woods from Canada to Carolia.
Description: An herbaceous perennial which takes its name from the Greek Bapto (to dye); has a black woody root, yellowish internally with many rootlets; stem about 3 feet high smooth, glabrous, round, and branched; leaves, small, subsessile, alternate and palmately trifoliate; leaflets rounded at end; calyx four-cleft; flowers, yellow, blooming August and September, in small loose terminal racemes. Legume short, bluish-black seeds, subreniform. Constituents: The root is non-odorous and of a nauseous acrid taste, containing gum, albumen, starch, a yellowish resin and a crystalline substance. Medicinal Action and Uses: Used internally in form of decoction or syrup in scarlatina, typhus, and in all cases where there is a tendency to putrescency; it is purgative, emetic, stimulant, astringent, and antiseptic, principally used for its antiseptic qualities. Dosage: Of the decoction, 1 tablespoonful. Fluid extract, 1/4 to 1/2 drachm. Baptisin, 1 to 3 grains.
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