Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Grindelia Cemporum or G. Robuste

COMPOSITAE

gum plant, gumuieed, scaly grindelia, rosin weed

Grindelia is the most important medicinal plant of California and the Southwest discussed here. Study of the medicines of California Indians shows that this plant was not introduced into the commercial drug trade until the late nineteenth century; it was therefore unknown to early herbalists.

The drug grindelia is derived from at least three species (G. camporum, G. squarrosa, G. humilis), but all are similar perennial herbs that grow about two feet high and are terminated by heads of yellow-rayed flowers. The leaves are pale green, leathery, and rather rigid. They are coarse, sticky plants, characterized by white, gummy exudations upon the buds and flower heads. Grindelia may be found on plains and dry hillsides west of the Mississippi.

An infused or decocted extract of Grindelia acts as an expectorant and sedative, with an action resembling that of atropine. Its principal use has been in bronchial catarrh where there is a tendency to asthma. It has also been of value in whooping cough. Most references mention the possible use of Grindelia for relief from ivy poisoning. Recommendations are noted for cystitis and catarrh of the bladder.

Meyer’s Herbalist gives, as dosage, one cupful a day, a mouthful at a time, of an infusion made with 1 teaspoonful of the leaves and flowering tops cut fine. The herb is harvested and dried in July, when it is just coming into flower; the upper third of the plant which contains the sticky bud is used.

Gnaphalium Obtusifolium

COMPOSITAE

cudioeed, caiiooi, everlasting, silver leaf, rabbit tobacco, cotton weed

This weed is found in almost any part of the United States. It grows in dry and usually infertile fields and lawns, and produces white, cottony flowers in August. Medicinally, the entire plant is dried, and an infusion of it made at the rate of a teaspoonful of the dried plant to a cupful of boiling water.

Cudweed is a member of the Daisy family, of wide distribution, and usually rated to have healing qualities. In India and China, this and another species are regarded as antimalarial. Reputedly, it can drive away moths and other insects. In Mexico and France, several species are mentioned as valuable in bronchitis and other conditions.
In Culpeper’s Complete Herbal we read that “Pliny saith, the juice of the herb taken in wine and milk is a sovereign remedy against the mumps and quinsy … whosoever shall so take it shall never be troubled with that disease again.” And the name cudweed comes from an old statement that the plant, when fed to cattle, will restore the ruminating faculty.

A more reputable source for the value of Gnaphalium, Youngken notes that it contains a volatile oil and a bitter principle with tannin and other constituents that are used “in domestic medicine, for pulmonary and intestinal catarrh and for diarrhea and locally as a fomentation for bruises.” He also mentions that similar values may be found in pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margariiacea] which is botanically a close relative.

In some of the references the assignment vulnerary is given to these plants, for without doubt, their astringent quality aids healing externally as well as internally. Thus we see that a little and unimportant weed may have unsuspected values.

Eupatorium Purpureum

COMPOSITAE

gravel root, joepye, jopi root, queen of the meadow, trumpet weed, kidney root, purple bonesei, Indian gravel root, motherwort, niggerweed, quillwort, hemp weed, purple thorough wort

This native of all but the most southern part of the country grows in damp soils, rich but waste places, and old fields. About six feet tall, it is distinguished by its purplish-to-white head of flowers in August. The Latin name Eupatorium is said to have come from Mithridates Eupator, a king of Pontus, the first to use the plant medicinally. “Joe Pye” is said to be the name of an American Indian who cured typhus fever with extractions of the root.

The rhizome is used medicinally. Decoctions or infusions have been prescribed for dropsy, strangury, gravel, and other urinary disorders. It is mentioned also as “especially valuable as a diuretic” with astringent and alterative properties, and as a nervine or tonic.

The roots smell like old hay and have a slightly bitter, aromatic taste.

One writer gives a dose as “two to four fluid ounces of the decoction taken three or four times a day.” It may be considered an auxiliary to other tonics, emetics, and diuretics. While not poisonous, overdoses cause nausea, pains in the stomach and bowels, increased heart action, and a run-down feeling. This species of Eupatorium is closely related (as the common names indicate) to the better-known boneset, and these plants have been considered interchangeable.

Eupatorium Perfoliatum

COMPOSITAE

boneset, thoroughwort, [eoenoori, Indian sage, aguetoeed, vegetable antimony, sweating plant

Boneset is a plant of swamps, marshes, and low grounds, found commonly throughout the United States. It grows three to four feet high, erect, with hairy, opposite leaves which seem to be perforated by the stem, and bears large heads of white flowers. The name, which seems to refer to its value in helping bones to set, actually came from the plant’s value in treating colds and the flu, which, in early days, were called “break-bone fevers.”

Our knowledge of its benefits came from the Indians, for Dr. Barton, in 1798, reported that “this medicine is used by our Indians in intermittent fevers,” and this use is confirmed by other contemporary writers. Its present-day value is attested to by country people; one correspondent wrote the author:

A bowl of boneset tea was often taken at night to break up a cold, which it usually did; it surely is bitter enough so it should do something.

The virtues mentioned for boneset in Jacobs’ Index of Plants are:

… a tonic stimulant, promoting digestion, strengthening the viscera and restoring the tone of the system; it is a valuable sudorific, alterative, antiseptic, cathartic, emetic, febrifuge, corroborant, diuretic, astringent, deobstruent, and stimulant. The warm infusion is used as an emetic, sudorific, and diaphoretic in fevers and constipation. Also used in rheumatism, typhoid fever, pneumonia, catarrh, dropsy, influenza, excellent for colds, fevers, dyspepsia, jaundice, debility of the system, et cetera.

What more could one want than this? Boneset has been found in official listings for nearly a century and a half and could well be rated a basic medicine in the American herbal list.

For use, the upper leaves and flowering tops are dried, and infusions made at the rate of 1 ounce of the dried herb to 1 pint of boiling water, taken in doses of a wineglassful. Take hot to induce perspiration for colds, and (in stronger doses) as an emetic.

Erigeron Canadensis

COMPOSITAE

Canadian fleabane, horse-weed, hog-weed, butter-weed, pride weed, colt’s tail

Fleabane is a purely American plant which was taken to Europe around 1640 and became so well known that mention of it appears in seventeenth-century herbals. It is presently included in herbals from both France and Mexico, though it does not seem to have appeared in the official pharmacopoeias.

The name fleabane might indicate some value as an insecticide, but Culpeper’s Complete Herbal says it was given because the seeds are as small as fleas. A tall weed, it sends up unbranched stems from three to six feet high when in flower. Its small flower heads have white-to-greenish unattractive, daisylike blooms. Fleabane grows in waste places throughout the United States and over much of the temperate zone.

Medicinally, it is a pungent tonic, astringent, and diuretic, claimed to be efficient in diarrhea, gravel, diabetes, and scalding urine, and in hemorrhages of the bowels.iuterus, and of wounds. It may be taken as an infusion made of 1 teaspoonful of the dried, powdered plant in 1 cupful of boiling water, a wineglassful as a dose. The whole plant is used, to be gathered when in bloom and carefully dried.

Several writers indicate that the extracted oil is similar to oil of turpentine, but less irritating. It is recommended for pimples, and Parkinson said long ago that fleabane “bound to the forehead is a great help to cure one of the frensie.”

There are a number of other species of Erigeron, all of which are said to possess the same medicinal properties, though in lesser degree. To put the plant in perspective, it would appear that its use and recommendation over three centuries afford it a reputable place in our list of medicinally valuable plants, even though orthodox medical men have not chosen to take much notice of it.

Cnicus Benedictus

COMPOSITAE

blessed thistle, holy thistle, bitter thistle, spotted carduus

A number of the thistles are reputed to have medicinal properties, and the values of this species have been passed along with the advance of civilization, from southern Europe, to England, and thence to America. For the plant, as found here and there in the East and South of this country, came to us with the immigrants. It is a much-branched plant, with alternate, lance-shaped leaves, and bears small heads of yellow-appearing flowers, from May to August.

The bitter-tasting leaves are used as an infusion. Meyer’s Herbalist suggests 1 teaspoonful to 1 cup of water, to be taken in sips during the day. Few writers consulted value greatly the blessed thistle, but all list it as tonic, diaphoretic, and, in large doses, emetic.

In earlier times it seems to have had a wide reputation and the “blessed” name attached to it shows belief in its beneficent effect. Culpeper, writing in 1653 in the middle of the Reformation period, makes this rather snide comment about the name: “It is called . . . Blessed Thistle, or Holy Thistle. I suppose the name was put upon it by some that had little holiness themselves.”

In that time there was plenty of superstition, for each plant was under the sign of a planet, as when Culpeper says of the blessed thistle: “It strengthens the attractive faculty of men and clarifies the blood, because [it is] ruled by Mars.” Well, maybe so.

Cichotiutn Intybus

COMPOSITAE

chicory, succory, blue sailors, blue dandelion, wild endive

Of extremely wide distribution, chicory is another wild plant of America which has been introduced from Europe. It is closely related to the dandelion, and often in the spring it is easy to confuse the clumps of the two as they appear on lawns or in fields. But in bloom, when the tall stalks bear lovely blue or soft pink blooms, there is no dandelion resemblance.

A plant of ancient usage, the name has been traced back through Arab medical language to Greek and Egyptian, and mention of the use of chicory is found in Roman writings. One finds that it was greatly appreciated as a spring green by southern Europeans, who understood its value as a tonic after the lack of green food in winter. In France (and in our own South, subject to French influence) the roots are dug, dried, ground, and added to coffee, not as an adulterant but for their distinctive flavor.

To many, chicory is known as the blanched winter vegetable of the markets sold as endive or witloof chicory, but to Lawn Addicts, it may be a weed which utterly defies pulling, as its roots go very deep.

No great medicinal values are ascribed to chicory, although it is mentioned in herbals as a diuretic, laxative, and tonic. And it seems to be generally recommended for jaundice and liver complaints, to be taken freely as a decoction, made at the rate of 1 ounce of dried, powdered root to 1 pint of water. Meyer’s Herbalist says that a tea made from the roots “may be taken whenever the stomach has been upset.”

Artemisia Absinthium

COMPOSITAE

wormwood, absinthe, maddenoori, mugioorl, mingworl, old woman

Many of the plants of this book, while now native, are introductions from Europe, often having been brought here for medicinal purposes. The wormwood is one of these plants, but it has not found the entire country congenial territory. It may be seen only along the roadsides and in pastures in the northern tier of states, westward to the plains.

This herb belongs to the Daisy family and grows up to three feet high, with odorous, grayish green, finely cut leaves. The leaves and flowering tops are gathered and dried in August and September. They are used commercially as flavoring for the liquor absinthe; with other herbs as a constituent of vermouth; and somewhat, in times past, for flavoring beer. Botanically it is closely related to A. dracunculus, known to all good cooks as tarragon.

Although wormwood has been generally recommended for many purposes, it should be noted that in concentrated form the volatile oil is a violent narcotic poison. As a drug, wormwood has disappeared from the pharmacopoeias, but it is still considered an aromatic bitter, diaphoretic, and flavoring agent, with the properties of a febrifuge, anthelmintic, and antiseptic.

In home medicine, wormwood is taken as an infusion of the crushed tops in 1 cup of boiling water, a tablespoonful at a time during the day. Grieve’s Herbal says that “a light infusion of the tops of the plants, used fresh, is excellent for all disorders of the stomach, creating an appetite, promoting digestion, and preventing sickness after meals, but producing a contrary effect if used too strong.”

Because of the strong smell of the foliage, wormwood was used in medieval times as a “strewing herb” for churches and public places, and, in chance encounters, this biting perfume is delightful. No herb garden should be without a plant or two. Value is ascribed to it as a repellent for moths and as a flea-chaser. In short, wormwood is an ancient and reputable herb with many uses, but one which should not be taken without knowledge of its poisonous qualities.

Arctium (species)

COMPOSITAE

burdock, great burdock, beggar’s buttons, lappa, stick button, cloibur, horse burr; plus a host of other local names including burdock rhubarb

Possibly one of the first plants with which little children become acquainted is the burdock, whose seeds with their sticky burrs literally force themselves upon the passerby. There are several species of Arctium including A. minus, a smaller-growing form. Arctium is a biennial rhubarb like plant growing on our roadsides. It is interesting to note that all of the four species listed in Gray’s Manual are introductions from Europe, yet burdock is found almost everywhere in the eastern United States.

The dried, first-year root has been used in the pharmaceutical trade for years. Although it is not presently official, it is generally considered a diaphoretic, diuretic, and alterative.

Potter’s Cyclopaedia says that it is “one of the finest blood purifiers in the herbal system, and should be used in such cases alone or with other remedies. Both root and seed may be taken as a decoction of 1 ounce to 1% pints of water, simmered down to 1 pint, in doses of a wineglassful three or four times daily.”

Other recommendations are to use the leaves in poultices for the relief of bruises, tumors, and other swellings, and some authorities mention it as an antidote for snakebites. Around any plant which has been used for as many centuries as has burdock, many stories and claims have arisen, including an interesting one by Culpeper:

Venus challenges this herb for her own, and by its leaf or seed you may draw the womb which way you please, either upwards by applying it to the crown of the head, in case it falls out; or downwards in fits of the mother, applying it to the soles of the feet, or if you would stay it in place, apply it to the navel, and that is one good way to stay the child in it.

Anthemis Nobilis

COMPOSITAE

garden chamomile, English-chamomile, Roman-chamomile, true-chamomile, earth apple, corn feverfew, barnyard daisy, turkey weed, mayweed

Because of the applelike smell of the leaves, the Greeks named it kamai (on the ground) melon (apple), from which comes almost directly our English chamomile. The Greeks, as did the Egyptians before them, valued this herb, and it remains today one of the standard herbal medicines of country-folk in many parts of the world.

There are related species of Anthemis which, while similar and having somewhat the same effect, are not considered truly a substitute. The plant is a low-growing, pleasantly strong-scented, downy, and matlike perennial whose flowers are remarkably daisylike with white petals and yellow center. This species is an escape from cultivation, and may be found near inhabited or formerly inhabited areas. However, it is also quite often found in gardens, where many authorities say that its presence will prevent disease in other cultivated plants.

The closely related genus, Matricaria Chamomilla is often confused with Anthemis. Roughly speaking, English people think of the low, matlike Anthemis as chamomile, while the Germanic peoples know and use similarly the taller-growing Matricaria.

For internal medicinal use, the flower heads of Anthemis are dried and used in infusions and decoctions, as extracts, pure oils, or in poultices. The infusion is made with 1 ounce of dried flowers to 1 pint of boiling water, taken either warm or cold. This produces the well-known chamomile tea, long known as soothing, sedative, and completely harmless; doses may be as large as desired. Stronger infusions may be introduced as an ingredient to a hot bath with soothing effect.

Since the uses of chamomile are so varied, it seems best to list them.

1. Youngken, in his Textbook, gives the active principle of chamomile as “anthemic acid” and lists it as an aromatic bitter. This brings it into the class of stomachic and tonic. An antispasmodic, one writer says it will immediately stop delirium tremens.
2. It is often recommended in cases of hysteria, as a nervine, and by some as an emmenagogue.
3. Poultices of remoistened dried flowers are recommended for use in all inflammations and abscesses, and, through similar application, for earache and toothache.
4. Used as a hair wash, it is said to act as a blond dye.
5. An infusion used to wash hands and face before walking in the woods will ward off insects.

An analysis of all that has been written about chamomile would indicate that here is the general medicine par excellence which is not only efficacious but perfectly safe.
One correspondent of the writer, having cut her hand on a rusty nail, reports that an old German woman recommended soaking the hand in a chamomile infusion; “My hand was healed in a few days, and in the years that have followed I have found these blossoms infallible wherever I have used them. In recent months it cured my foot when badly poisoned by lye. Soaking in a warm infusion is very restful for tired feet, and takes the soreness from callouses. It is also an excellent remedy for ivy poison.” Such a plant should be a part of every garden. Not only will it provide medicine, but its pleasant fragrance will pervade the air, and it will help other plants stay healthy. Also, it is an excellent ground cover.

Achillea Millefolium

COMPO SITAE

milfoil, yarrow, old man’s pepper, thousand-leaved, nosebleed, thousand-seal, dog daisy, knight’s milfoil, soldier’s woundwort, devil’s plaything.

Both scientific and common names reveal a great deal of the story behind plants, and Achillea is no exception. Myth has it that Achilles first revealed the uses of the plant to mankind. From the finely cut, fernlike foliage we get the species name Millefolium, or thousand-leaved. Its family name reveals that it is a member of the Daisy family, which is easy to see when we examine the tiny florets which make the head of (generally white, sometimes pink) flowers. Old man’s pepper refers to its mildly pungent taste and smell, while nosebleed goes back to its use both to induce nosebleed, and, because of its astringent quality, to stop mild bleeding.

We are further told that it was known anciently as Herba Militaris, knight’s milfoil, and soldier’s woundwort, all of which suggest that it was used as a ready-to-hand field bandage for battle wounds, although its value for staunching flows of blood is doubtful. Its last name, devil’s plaything, refers to its use in divination. We can well suppose that this was one of the herbs used by the witches in Macbeth.

Milfoil was brought to this country probably for medicinal use by early settlers. It is now widely distributed in fields and meadows, blooming in early August, when it may be gathered and dried for later use.

Youngken, in his Textbook, lists it as an “aromatic bitter, diaphoretic and emmenagogue.” One recipe recommends 1 ounce of the dried herb steeped in 1 pint of warm water, this infusion to be taken at the rate of a wineglassful several times a day. For colds, it is suggested that dried elder flowers and mint be added to the brew.