Page 209 - Pharmacognosy 2 PG303

Pharmacognosy-2 (PG303) Level 2 Clinical Pharmacy-Pharm D

RADIX SARSAE

Sarsaparilla., Radix Sarsaparilla

Several varieties of sarsaparilla are imported, but the one known as Jamaica
sarsaparilla is the most esteemed in this country. This variety is obtained from
Smilax ornata Hooker filius, Family Liliaceae, a climbing plant with woody stems,
ascending lofty trees, and springing from a stout, knotty rhizome. From the rhizome
slender cylindrical roots are thrown off horizontally and creep for many feet a few
inches below the surface of the earth. In collecting the roots, they are first laid bare
and then cut off near the rhizome. After they have been dried, they are made into
bundles; a number of these are placed upright and bound with wire into a disc-shaped
bale.

The plant is a native of Central America (Costa Rica). The root was formerly
exported via Jamaica; hence the designation "Jamaica" sarsaparilla.

Macroscopical Characters
Jamaica sarsaparilla is imported in bundles about half a meter long and 12 cm.

in diameter, weighing about a kilogram. Each bundle consists of numerous long,
slender roots about 3 mm. in thickness, doubled up and bound loosely with one of the
same roots. These usually have a dark reddish-brown color, are much shrunken and
furrowed longitudinally, and bear tolerably numerous branching rootlets. They are
tough and flexible, not breaking easily even when bent double. The transverse section
exhibits a narrow, reddish-brown cortex surrounding a central stele, which consists
of a ring of yellowish wood with large, radially arranged vessels and a white, starchy
pith. The bundles are always free from the rhizome "chump "). The drug has no odor,
only a slightly bitter taste.

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