American Beautyberry – Callicarpa americana

This interesting member of the Verbena family is listed as Endangered, possibly Extirpated in Maryland. It is a deciduous bush with the most interesting purple berries in the fall. They last long into the winter and are enjoyed by many over wintering birds.

The berries are astringent and aromatic, being sweet, juicy, and fleshy. For human consumption they are best in small quantities.

Native Indians had many uses for the Beautyberry, among them: A decoction of the root bark as a diuretic; the leaves for dropsy; a tea from the roots for dysentery and stomach aches; A tea made from the roots and berries for colic; and, the leaves and roots in sweat baths for the treatment of malaria, rheumatism and fevers. The leaves crushed and rubbed on the skin offer protection from mosquitoes.

American Beautyberry – showing purple fruit

Beautyberry Jelly

 

1 ½ qts. Beautyberries, washed and clean of green stems and leaves.

Cover with 2 qts. water

Boil 20 minutes and strain to make infusion

Use 3 cups of the infusion, bring to boil, add 1 envelope Sure-Jell and 4 ½ cups sugar. Bring to second boil and boil 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and let stand until foam forms.

Skim off foam, pour into sterilized jars, cap.

Adapted from “Florida’s Incredible Wild Edibles” by Richard Deuerling and Peggy Lantz.

New England Aster – Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

New England Aster single flower

The New England Aster was a very important plant to the Native Americans. It-Brings-the-Fall is a Native American (which language was not referenced!) expression for aster. The root tea was used for treatment of fever and diarrhea. The entire plant was used as a fumigant in the long house, lodge, or other form of dwelling. And the early settlers learned to use it likewise! The flowers and leaves were burned in the sweat lodge to revive the unconscious, to treat mental illness, nosebleeds, headaches, congestion, and for smudging.

The New England Aster was also used in dyeing! There are many colors available from just this one plant. The stems, leaves and flowers of asters will produce a yellow-green with alum an mordant, brassy gold with a chrome mordant, greenish-gold with a copper mordant, bright yellow-gold with a tin mordant, dark grey-green with an iron mordant and a yellow-green with no mordant.

The Flower Sisters

or

How Goldenrod and Aster Came To Be – A Cherokee Tale

 

Two warring tribes, fighting over a choice hunting ground, waged war into a village. Two young girls, sisters, hid in the woods, and in this way survived. Both wore dresses their mother had made from doeskin, one dyed lavender-blue with fringe, and the other one bright yellow.

The sisters sought help from an old Herb Woman who lived in a nearby valley. This woman gathered herbs by day and brewed magic potions by night, a gift given to her by Creator.

The Herb Woman looked into the future as the girls slept that night. She saw that the enemy would hunt down these children. So she made up a magic brew, sprinkled it upon them as they slept, and covered them with leaves.

As the sun rose the next morning there were two flowers where the girls had once been sleeping. One was the lavender-blue aster (the fringe had turned into her ray petals), and the other flower was the goldenrod.

New England Aster

Persimmon, Common – Diospyros virginiana

Persimmon Fruit

“Possum up a ‘simmon tree
Raccoon on the ground
Possum says you son of a gun
Lay my ‘simmons down.”

       – Mid to late 1800s, author unknown. 

 

Persimmons are very astringent until they are fully ripe, they need to be to the point of almost turning bad! They can be used raw, cooked or dried; used in breads, cakes, pies, and puddings. The dried leaves are high in Vitamin C, and make a nice tea reminiscent of sassafrass tea.

In medicinal use the inner bark and unripe fruit are used in the treatment of fevers, and diahrrea.

Poison Ivy Treatment: 

Remove a handful of twigs from a persimmon tree, cover them with water, and boil for 20 minutes. Strain and cool the liquid. Apply this decoction top poison ivy or poison oak rash, it will stop the itch immediately, and after a few applications will cause drying of the rash.  

The persimmon seed is flat, and was at one time used to predict the coming winters weather. Take the flat seed and split it parrallel to the flattened sides, then check out the little white sprout. If the sprout looks like a fork, it means a mild winter. If it is shaped like a spoon, it means a lot of snow coming, needing to be shoveled. And if one sees a knife, it means cold wionter winds are forecast!

Four Herb Tea – Essiac Tea

Possible Cancer Cure?

6-½ C burdock root, cut

1 lb sheep sorrel herb, powdered

¼ lb slippery elm bark, powdered

1 ounce Turkish rhubarb root, powdered

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Store in glass jar in a cool, dark closet.

Use 1 cup of mixture to 256 ounces of water.

Boil hard for 10 minutes, covered.

Turn off heat, but leave sitting on warm burner overnight, covered

In the morning heat steaming hot, then let settle a few minutes

Strain this through a fine strainer into hot sterilized bottles, cap

Let sit to cool, store in cool dark closet

Upon opening it must be refrigerated

This is the formula as Rene Caisse received it from “an old Indian medicine man” as testified to by her assistant Mary McPherson her assistant. This is the formula in the sworn affidavit notarized by Janice M. Howden, Deputy Clerk of the Town of Bracebridge, in the district municipality of Muskoka (Ontario, Canada) on the 23-day of December 1994

This small town is where Rene Caisse carried on her clinic (on 6 Dominion Street) to treat her many cancer patients. Rene had made Mary (her assistant) swear never to reveal the recipe in her life, but at the age of 80, Mary felt she needed to clear up the mystery and allegations surrounding this formula. Even today there are many people who would have this formula changed and make it 8 or 9 herbs! But Mary worked closely with Rene from 1935 to 1978, being the sole maker of the recipe in Rene’s later years. She should therefore have known.

Dr. Gary Glum released this formula in his book The Calling of an Angel: Essiac Natures Cure for Cancer in 1988.

The preparation of Essiac is as important as the formula itself. Essiac is a decoction, not an infusion. An infusion is what people make when they put a tea bag in a cup of hot water. Generally speaking, an infusion tends to extract vitamins and volatile oils. A decoction is used to extract minerals, bitter components, etc. from hard materials such as roots, bark, or seeds by boiling for a few minutes and then allowing the herbs to steep for several hours. Entrepreneurs often sell Essiac imitations in tincture form (herbs in alcohol) or in gelatin capsules; neither form is Essiac because Essiac is a tea and, more specifically, a decoction that must be made in a certain way in order to achieve the kind of results that Nurse Caisse was demonstrating. 

People often substitute stainless steel for an enameled pot and lid. The main concern is not to use an aluminum pot. Also, be sure not to use unfiltered, chlorinated water. The formula above can be reduced to 1/2 cup of herb mix to one gallon of water. [Optional:  Dr. Glum suggests adding 2 or 3 cups of extra water to replace water lost through evaporation during boiling. Also, the dry herbs will absorb water as well.] After boiling for ten minutes, let the tea steep about 12 hours. Then heat up tea to steaming, but not boiling. (Do not boil twice.) The remaining pulp can be used for healing poultices. 

Don’t use cheesecloth to strain Essiac. Likewise, do not use a kitchen sieve that has a very fine mesh as this may filter out the slippery elm. Slippery elm gives the tea a slight viscous consistency when poured. If you do not notice this “slippery” consistency after refrigerating your tea, you may be using a sieve that is too fine. Don’t worry about herb particles in your Essiac; they will settle to the bottom of the jars. Some people drink the Essiac dregs (particles that settle on the bottom), others don’t. Some people give the Essiac dregs to their pets or farm animals as a health food. Many people have reported the same or similar health benefits with their pets that humans are reporting. The dregs can also be used topically as a poultice.

Burdock root is harvested in the fall of the first year. Slippery elm bark is wildcrafted or organically grown and is easy to buy. Turkey Rhubarb is the only herb in Essiac that cannot be wildcrafted in the US. The Chinese use six-year-old turkey rhubarb roots for maximum potency.

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Staghorn Sumac – Rhus typhina

Beneath a grove of Staghorn Sumac

under the stars……….

around the corner from the Moon,

She writes notes to tack upon the Oak trees

with packets of flower seeds

for the Holocaust…

By Allan Traphagan

 

The Staghorn Sumac is native to eastern North America, primarily the northeastern and Midwestern United States, Appalachian Mountains, and Southern Ontario, Canada. The most identifying characteristics are the fruit, which forms clusters of small red drupes (berries) at the ends of branches.

The fruit has been used for centuries by the Native Americans to make lemonade like drink that is high in Vitamin C. They have also been used in pies.

Several native North American Indian tribes who valued it especially for its astringent qualities often employed staghorn sumac medicinally. It is little used in modern Herbalism. The bark is antiseptic and astringent with an infusion being used for treatment of diarrhea, fevers, piles (hemorrhoids), debility, and uterine issues. Reportedly the Natives used the leaves, smoked to treat asthma

Staghorn Sumac lemonade recipe

1-quart sumac berries
1-gallon water, heated, but not boiling (the heated water brings out more tannin, making it more astringent)
Optional: maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves
Cheesecloth, or drip coffee filter

Harvest fresh sumac

Lay it outside for a bit, spread it out, and check for any bugs (no need to drink them! Lol)

Rinse seed heads, but do not rub, and drain on a towel
Fill a container with water
Put sumac seeds and spices in water
Set aside at room temperature or in the sun for 1-2 hours
Remove berries and strain liquid through cheesecloth or coffee filters

Many people have made this without the sweetening or the spices and it is quite refreshing all alone!

Staghorn Sumac Fruit

Tobacco – Nicotiana tabacum

Tobacco is a native of the warmer parts of America, and was first exported to England, in 1586, by Sir Walter Raleigh. According to the authors of the Pharmacographia, it was carried to Europe by the Spaniards on their return from ‘discovering’* America in1492, and employed for its medicinal effects.

 Tobacco has a long history of use by medical herbalists as a relaxant, though since it is a highly additive drug it is seldom employed internally or externally at present.

Most importantly Tobacco is one of the 4 sacred plants of the Native American Indians. It is used to communicate with Creator, to show respect and humility, to cleanse spiritually and to smoke in the sacred pipe.

Tobacco

 

* There is a question this author has about said ‘discovery’…how does one discover a place that was already well known to its inhabitants, and was never lost or misplaced? The choice of wording on many historians’ parts is ill considered, in my opinion!

Rose Hips – Rosa rugosa

Sea Rose (Rosa rugosa) hips

Rose hips are the seedpods of the rose. They share the same family with apples and crabapples. But we don’t see them as often as in the past. Today people prune off the spent roses to encourage more blooms. Without leaving the dead roses in place, the seedpod will never form!

Rose hips are so healthy for you…Vitamin C is especially high, but they also contain some Vitamin A & B. They can be used to make tea, jam, jelly, syrup, soups, beverages, pies, bread, wine, and marmalade. The dried hips can be used in craftwork and add a nice red touch to wreaths for fall.

Rose hips have been used for perfumes, cosmetics, and hand lotions since long ago. Pliny records the use in herbal medicine in AD 77; he states it was used for 32 different disorders.

During WWII rose hipes were grown in Victory Gardens and the hips after making tea could be added to soups and stews. Prior to then the Native American women used them for food also. They are great because they dry well and will last all winter.

Rose Hip Tea: Rose hips can be used fresh or dried, for a simple rose hips tea use 2-4 hips. You’ll need about twice as many hips, if using fresh. Steep the hips in a cup of boiling water for about 10 – 15 minutes.

A half-teaspoon of dried mint may be added to give a different flavor, or the acid-tasting tea may be sweetened. Rose hip tea may also be improved by blending with hibiscus flowers.

American Strawberry Bush – Euonymus americanus

Strawberry bush is also known as hearts-a-burstin’ and grows to 4 – 6 ft in height. The spring flowers are hardly noticeable, but the fruit is where its name is derived, and very noticeable. It is a warty red capsule, approx 1 inch across that resembles a strawberry. It bursts open revealing 4 or 5 orange red seeds.

Strawberry bush caught the eye of early botanists who visited the New World, so

much so that in 1663 it was among the first American plants exported back to Europe for horticultural use. Native Americans used the roots of Strawberry bush to make a tea for stomach and urinary problems and uterine prolapse.

This plant is not for human ingestion as the fruit is poisonous. But for wildlife it is a well-loved fruit. The fruits apparently have no effect on Wild Turkeys, Wood Thrushes, Eastern Bluebirds, Yellow- rumped Warblers, and Northern Mockingbirds, which are among the few birds that consume the berries and disseminate the seeds. Although native deer browse Strawberry bush with impunity, the leaves and twigs are considered to be deadly poisonous to domestic sheep and cattle.

Strawberry Bush