Arnica

Arnica, a genus of Tubulifloral Composites. The rhizome, leaves, and flowers of the Mountain Arnica (A. montana), sometimes called Mountain Tobacco, formerly enjoyed much repute in medicine as a stimulant in paralytic affections, low fevers, &c. The flowers are still employed to yield a tincture which is of service as an external application to wounds and bruises. The plant yields a considerable quantity of tannin, resin, volatile oil, and a peculiar alkaloid (arnicin). The rhizome is perennial and crooked, the stem about two feet high, simple or little branched, with few leaves, bearing on the summit a head of flowers of a dark golden yellow, often two inches in breadth. It flowers from June to August, forms an ornament of mountain meadows in Germany and Switzerland, and is found upon the Continent as far south as Portugal, and as far north as Lapland, but is not a native of Britain. There are a few North American species.