Goodyera pubescens. Net-leaf Plantain.

Nat. Ord. — Orchidaceae. Sex. Syst. — Gynandria Monandria.

The Leaves.

Description. — This plant, likewise known by the names of Scrofulaweed, Adder's Violet, Rattlesnake-leaf, etc., has a perennial root, from which arises an erect, sheathed and pubescent scape, from eight to twelve inches in hight. The leaves are radical, ovate, dark-green, conspicuously reticulated and blotched above with white, about two inches in length, and contracted at base into winged petioles scarcely half as long. The flowers are white, numerous, pubescent, in a crowded, terminal, oblong, cylindric spike. Lip ovate, acuminate, saccate, inflated. Petals ovate. The Goodyera Repens is a reduced variety of the above, the scape being from six to eight feet in bight, the leaves less conspicuously reticulated, and the flowers being on a somewhat unilateral spike, more or less spiral ; in other respects about the same as the preceding.

History. — This herb grows in various parts of the United States, in rich woods, and under evergreens, and is common southward, while the G. Repens is more common northward and on mountains. It bears white, or yellowish-white flowers in July and August. The leaves are the parts employed, and yield their virtues to boiling water. No analysis has been made of them.

Properties and Uses. — Net-leaf Plantain is antiscrofulous, and is reputed to have cured severe cases of scrofula. The fresh leaves are steeped in milk and applied to scrofulous ulcers as a poultice, or the bruised leaves may be laid on them, and in either case, they must be renewed every three hours ; at the same time a warm infusion must be taken as freely as the stomach will allow. Used as an injection into the vagina, and at the same time exhibited internally, the infusion has proved beneficial in leucorrhea, recent prolapsus uteri, and as a wash in scrofulous ophthalmia.

Off. Prep. — Infusum Goodyerae.

The American Eclectic Dispensatory, 1854, was written by John King, M. D.