Fern Leaf Tansy – Tanacetum vulgare

Fern Leaved Tansy

And where the marjoram once, and sage, and rue,
And balm, and mint, with curl’d-leaf parsley grew,
And double marigolds, and silver thyme,
And pumpkins ‘neath the window climb;
And where I often, when a child, for hours
Tried through the pales to get the tempting flowers,
As lady’s laces, everlasting peas,
True-love-lies-bleeding, with the hearts-at-ease,
And golden rods, and tansy running high,
That o’er the pale-tops smiled on passers-by.

John Clare

This common perennial of Eurasia was brought to North America during Colonial times to treat intestinal, parasitic worms. During Medieval times it was a wise woman ‘cure’ for pregnancy, since the present thujone in high enough does will cause abortion! Although most of common Tansy’s medicinal uses have been discredited, it is still a component of some medicines in the early 21st century and is listed by the United States Pharmacopeia as a treatment for fevers, feverish colds, and jaundice.

Tansy was used in a type of embalming of the dead, for repelling of various insects. It has also been used directly as an insect repellent. Tansy was used as a skin cleanser to lighten the complexion.

Tansy can be toxic. Sheep and goats eat this plant with relish, but cattle and horses only eat it when young. The plant is less palatable and more toxic as it matures. Thujone is the active toxin, and may cause stomach pain, mental/mood changes, trouble sleeping, tremors, change in the amount of urine, seizures, numbness, unusual thirst.

Although Tansy is toxic, it has been used for culinary reasons for centuries. Cooking the plant causes the toxicity to be eliminated. The flower buds have a flavor suggesting ginger and are either loved or reviled. Back in the day Tansy and caraway seed biscuits were served at funerals.

Sensitive Plant – Mimosa pudica

Sensitive Plant taken in the Bayous of Loisiana

Whether the sensitive Plant, or that

Which within its boughs like a Spirit sat,

Ere its outward form had known decay,

Now felt this change, I cannot say…

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

The leaves of this native of South America are sensitive to the touch. Barely a touch causes the leaves to fold and droop. When my husband and I were traveling through Louisiana we stopped at the Welcome Center off I 20, eastbound. We were leaving east Texas, heading towards Shrevesport. While there we saw plants we had never seen before….among them this very entertaining ground hugging plant.

In Ayurvedic medicine the root is the most commonly used part, but the leaves, flowers, bark, and fruit are also utilized in medicine. It is considered bitter, acrid, and cooling. It is used in the treatment of biliousness, leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammations, burning sensation, fatigue, asthma, leucoderma, blood diseases etc.

The leaves have been used in the past for insomnia, by placing them beneath the pillow at night. The leaves and branches made into tea is used as a relaxant, pain reliever and to help with sleep.

It is believed that the plant is toxic to Humans and other mammals due to the presence of mimonsine (an amino acid) in all parts. When eaten in massive quantities it is known to cause hair loss, and depressed growth.

Freesia – Freesia corymbosa

Freesia flowers

This perennial native of Africa is in the Iridaceae (Iris family). They are herbaceous plants that usually bloom from July to August. The flowers are strongly scented and are often used to scent hand creams, shampoos, and candles.

Freesia first appeared in the nursery trade in England in 1878. Although there is no record of how it appeared in England, it quickly spread to Europe and to America. It very quickly became a popular favorite everywhere it was introduced.

I first saw this plant in the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. At the time it was not labeled, but I took pictures anyway! The scent was wonderful, and drew me back to other plants placed around the Conservatory, until I finally found one plant that was labeled and identified! 

Cotton – Gossypium hisutum

Upland Cotton boll

Boll-weevil’s coming,

And the winter’s cold,
Made cotton-stalks look rusty,

seasons old, and cotton,

Scarce as any southern snow…

by Jean Toomer

Archeological evidence from the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico shows the cultivation of this species as long as 8,000 years ago. This is the earliest evidence of cotton cultivation in the Americas, found thus far. 90% of all cotton production in the world today is this species.

During the American slavery period, cotton root bark was used in a folk remedy as an abortifacient (to provoke abortion). The root bark was used to treat many female ailments during that time period. From lack of menstruation to inducing labor, but it was not just a woman’s herb. Chewing the root is said to have stimulated the sexual organs and acted as an aphrodisiac. It was also used for treatment of snakebite, dysentery (diarrhea containing mucous or blood), and fever.

The seeds were once considered a food product and a remedy. The oil was used as any other vegetable oil, and in emulsion form given intravenously to people with nutritional deficiencies. The people of the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean area: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine) still use the seeds as food.

Dusty Miller – Centaurea cineraria

Dusty Miller

This border plant is a wonderful addition to a moon garden; it captures and reflects the slightest amount of light! It is treated as an annual in many areas but will grow as a perennial in Zones 9-10. In its second year the plant puts out flat topped flower clusters in summer. It is usually grown for its accent of gray, silver leaves, rarely for the flowers.

The juice of the entire plant has been used to treat cataracts. The government of India has stated that “Cineraria is the drug of choice to halt or reverse cataract.” Cineraria is the homeopathic remedy referenced in the Physicians’ Desk Reference for the treatment of cataracts.

The plant contains poisonous Pyrrolizidine alkaloids, so should never be consumed! If consumed the poisoning symptoms that are possible are hepato-toxicity and carcinogenicity

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

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

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.

Plants in Modern Medicine

Foxglove

Many years ago, herbs were the only source of medicine. Today modern Medicine has a myriad of chemicals to be prescribed by your medical doctor. But did you know that at least 120 of these medicines that they have available to prescribe are plant based. In other words Herbology!

If you should go to your doctor and ask for herbal remedies instead of the chemical pharmacy company products, and he says NO…..remind him/her of these contributors from the plant kingdom. Many more of the prescriptions written are for medicines that are simple synthetic modifications or copies of the naturally obtained substances. For example, many years ago a plant chemical was discovered in a tropical plant, Cephaelis ipecacuanha, and the chemical was named emetine. A drug was developed from this plant chemical called Ipecac which was used for many years to induce vomiting mostly if someone accidentally swallowed a poisonous or harmful substance. Ipecac can still be found in pharmacies in many third world countries but has been mostly replaced by other drugs in the United States.

Many European countries, including Germany, regulate herbal products as drugs and pharmaceutical companies prepare plant based drugs simply by extracting out the active chemicals from the plants. A good example is the plant substance/drug, cynarin. Cynarin is a plant chemical found in the common artichoke (Cynara scolymus). In Germany, a cynarin drug is sold for liver problems and hypertension which is simply this one chemical extracted from the artichoke plant or a plant extract which has been standardized to contain a specific milligram amount of this one chemical. These products are manufactured by pharmaceutical companies, sold in pharmacies in Germany and a doctor’s prescription is required to purchase them. In the United States artichoke extracts are available as natural products and sold in health food stores.

Some examples of plant derived medicines follow:

Digoxin – Digitalis purpurea

Atropine – Atropa belladonna

Caffeine – Camellia sinensis

Camphor – Cinnamomum camphora

Cocaine – Erythroxylum coca

Codeine – Papaver somniferum

Emetine – Cephaelis ipecacuanha

Ephedrine – Ephedra sinica

Morphine – Papaver

Papavarine – Papaver somniferum

Pilocarpine – Pilocarpis jaborandi

Pseudoephredrine – Ephedra sinica

Quinine –  Cinchona ledgeriana

Salicin – Salix alba

Scopolamine – Datura species

Strychnine – Strychnos nux-vomica

Many of our newest drugs are coming from plants of the Rainforest. And yet the rainforests are being burned, slashed and destroyed daily. The future cure for AIDS or cancer may already be extinct due to these practices!

Thus far seven plant-derived anticancer drugs have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for commercial production. Some of them are listed below:

Taxol from the Pacific Yew

Vinblastine from the Madagascar Periwinkle

Topotecan from the Chinese tree Campototheca acuminate

Teniposide from the Mayapple plant family