Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

An Herbal Gold Mine

Family: Equisetaceae; the family is extinct except for horsetail

Genus and Species: Equisetum Arvense

Also known as: Equisetum, Scouring Rush, Pewterwort, Shave Grass, Corncob Plant, Bottle Brush

Parts used: Stems

All that’s gold does not necessarily glitter. Take horsetail. This bamboo-like marsh dweller is capable of absorbing gold dissolved in water. What makes that of interest to herbalists is that doctors often prescribe preparations containing gold for rheumatoid arthritis, and horsetail has a long history as an herbal remedy for joint pain.

Scouring Rush

Centuries before anyone realized horsetail contains gold, the ancients discovered its value as an abrasive cleanser. As the centuries passed, it was used to scour pots, polish pewter, and sand or “shave” wood, hence its popular names-scouring rush, shave grass, and pewterwort (wort is Old English for plant).

During ancient famines, Romans ate horsetail shoots, which look like asparagus but are neither as tasty nor as nutritious. (Backpacking guides still recommend the tough, stringy shoots for wilderness foragers.)

Ancient Chinese physicians used this herb to treat wounds, hemorrhoids, arthritis, and dysentery.

The Roman physician Galen claimed horsetail healed severed tendons and ligaments and helped stop nosebleeds. Over the centuries, the herb gained a reputation as a wound healer.

Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper called horsetail “very powerful to stop bleeding… [and] heal ulcers… the juice or decoction being drunk… or applied outwardly… It solders together wounds and cures all ruptures.”

Used for Urinary Problems

As time passed, horsetail shed its reputation as a wound healer and gained one as a diuretic to treat water retention and as a urinary remedy. It was used to treat painful urination, gonorrhea, kidney infections, urinary tract infections, and dropsy (congestive heart failure).

America’s 19th-century Eclectics prescribed horsetail as a diuretic and urinary antiseptic for incontinence, gonorrhea, kidney stones, kidney infections, urinary complaints, and congestive heart failure.

Homeopaths prescribe microdoses of the herb for urinary problems: bladder infections, bed-wetting, incontinence, and urethritis.

Contemporary herbalists recommend it externally for wounds and internally for urinary and prostate problems.

Horsetail is not a major medicinal herb, but if California’s Gold Rush ‘4gers were alive today, they’d say, “There’s gold in them thar herbs!”

Arthritis - Horsetail absorbs gold dissolved in water better than most plants, as much as 4 ounces per ton of fresh stalks. Of course, the amount of gold in a cup of horsetail tea is quite small, but small amounts of gold are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, and the Chinese used horsetail for this disease. If you’d like to include horsetail as part of an overall rheumatoid arthritis treatment plan, discuss it with your physician.

Diuretic - Horsetail contains a weak diuretic chemical (equisetonin), lending support to its traditional use as a urinary stimulant.

Myth - Horsetail contains nicotine, and some herbalists suggest it as a nicotine substitute for smokers attempting to quit. However, compared to the amount in cigarettes, horsetail’s nicotine content is minute, only about 0.00004 percent, and is unlikely to satisfy a smoker’s craving. Prescription nicotine gum (Nicorette) would be a better alternative.

Rx for Horsetail

To help treat water retention or rheumatoid arthritis (in consultation with your physician), use either an infusion or tincture. For an infusion, use I to 2 teaspoons of dried herb per cup of water. Steep 10 minutes. Drink up to 2 cups a day. Horsetail has little taste.

In a tincture, use ½ to 1 teaspoon up to twice a day. Horsetail should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

Horsetail is relatively high in selenium. Too much selenium may cause birth defects. In marshes downstream from heavily fertilized agricultural areas, horsetail may have hazardously high selenium levels. Pregnant women should not use this herb.

Horsetail contains a chemical (equisetine) that in large amounts is a nerve poison. Animals fed the herb have suffered fever, weight loss, muscle weakness, and abnormal pulse rate. Animal fatalities have also been reported. Children have reportedly suffered nonfatal reactions after using the hollow stems as toy blowguns and ingesting the juice. Don’t let children play with this herb.

Other Cautions

Because of the problems it has caused in animals, the Food and Drug Administration lists horsetail as an herb of “undefined safety.” For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who are not taking other diuretics, horsetail is considered relatively safe when used cautiously for brief periods in amounts typically recommended.

Horsetail should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. if horsetail causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Giant of the Marshes

Horsetail is the sole descendant of the giant fernlike plants that covered the earth some 200 million years ago. The herb’s creeping rhizome sends up hollow, jointed, virtually leafless, bamboo-like stalks that reach 6 feet. At the ends of the stalks, spore-bearing structures (catkins) develop which resemble horse tails, corncobs, or bottle brushes, hence some of the herb’s names.

Horsetails may be purchased from specialty nurseries, or root cuttings may be taken from wild plants in the spring when the spear-like stems have reached a few inches.

Set plants or cuttings just under the surface of marshy soil.

Keep it wet. If you do not want the plant to spread, contain it by embedding sheet metal in the soil to a depth of 18 inches.

Harvest the stalks in the fall.

Make sure children do not suck on the hollow stems.