Corallorhiza.
Botanical name:
Corallorhiza. Corallorhiza odontorhiza (Willd.) Nutt. Coral-root. (Fam. Orchidaceae.)—This is a parasitic leafless herb, sending up from a coral-like rhizome a simple scape or flower stem, from six to sixteen inches high, furnished with sheaths instead of leaves, of a light brown or purplish color, and bearing small, greenish-brown flowers in a long spike. The plant grows throughout the United States east of the Mississippi. The rhizome is the part used. It is much branched and toothed, and of a brown color, and its resemblance to coral gave name to the plant. It has a strong peculiar odor, and an astringent bitterish taste. It is much valued by the eclectics as diaphoretic in fevers; dose, of powder, thirty grains (2 Gm.) every two hours.
