ABSTRACT
Promotional literature on canaigre indicates that the drug was recommended in old herbals for a large number of maladies, ranging from lack of vitality to leprosy.1 Unfortunately, the authors of such statements somehow fail to include references, and an inspection of herbal literature does not substantiate this claim. For example, J. M. Nickell's comprehensive listing of some 2,500 botanical remedies in 1911 omits the plant entirely.2King's American Dispensatory (1900), a comprehensive eclectic compendium devoting 2,172 closely written pages to plant remedies, dedicates eight lines of fine print to canaigre, stating that because of its high tannin content, it was used for tanning and dyeing by the Indians.3 Not a single word therein notes any medicinal use. Voelcker, however, mentions in 1876 that the natives of Mexico used the root as an astringent.4 In the Southwest, it was known as the "Indian tan plant." In 1896, the state of Texas published an agricultural bulletin promoting its potential as a new crop for the tanning industry.5
