(HELLANTHEMUM CANADENSE)
COMMON NAMES. Rock Rose, Frost Plant, etc.
MEDICINAL PART. The herb.
Description.--Rock Rose is a perennial herb, with a simple, ascending downy stem, about a foot high. The leaves are alternate, from eight to twelve inches long, about one-fourth as wide; oblong, acute, lanceolate, erect, and entire. The flowers are large and bright yellow, some with petals, and some without petals. The flowers open in sunshine and cast their petals next day.
History.--It is indigenous to all parts of the United States, growing in dry, sandy soils, and blossoming from May to July. The leaves and stems are covered with a white down, hence its name. The whole plant is officinal, having a bitterish, astringent, slightly aromatic taste, and yields its properties to hot water. Prof. Eaton, in his work on botany, records this curious fact of the plant: n November and December of 1816 I saw hundreds of these plants sending out broad, thin, curved ice crystals, about an inch in breadth from near the roots. These were melted away by day, and renewed every morning for more than twenty-five days in succession.