Botany Bee Botanicals

Pleurisy Root, Asclepias tuberosa, is known to gardeners as butterfly milkweed. It grows in dry, sandy areas and has bright orange flowers perched on top of a leafy stem. It is native to North America and was used extensively by indigenous peoples. This photo was taken by me in an area I forage.

It has been used traditionally for respiratory ailments, diarrhea, snow blindness, swelling, rash, tapeworm, snakebite, and sore throat. In contemporary times it is used to relieve lung inflammation. It is a bronchodilator. It may have a diaphoretic effect, inducing sweating to lower fevers. It contains flavonoids, which are antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory.

Pleurisy root was one of the herbs used by physicians to fight the 1918 influenza pandemic. They found it to be safe and effective in small to moderate doses.

Suggested dosing: Tincture: 1-3 ml 2-3x day.

Possible side effects: Skin rash, nausea, vomiting. May have an estrogenic effect. May interfere with the action of diuretics (water pills).

Contraindications: Do not use it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Do not use it if you are a cardiac patient as it contains cardiac glycosides.

For more scientific info google "Herbal Treatments for Pandemic Influenza: Learning from the Eclectics' Experience".

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose or treat any disease. I am not a medical professional and cannot diagnose or treat any medical conditions.

Rev 7/26 © Botany Bee Botanicals

Mid-summer harvest and foraging is going very well! We had some outrageous high temps and there was concern that the essential oils can evaporate right out of the plants, especially mugwort. But it looks like we avoided that. This week we harvested stinging nettle, feverfew, yarrow, horehound, plantain, dandelion, and vervain! The black cohosh, bloodroot, and stoneroot are flourishing.

Foraging on beautiful, unspoiled land yielded an abundance of self-heal, oregano, wild basil, ground ivy, lemon balm, and chickweed. I drove north to a hidden Adirondack hemlock bog and found some beautiful, large reishi. It's important not to harvest it too early before it has released its spores. I want to be able to return and find more next year.

My friend's organic garden gave us comfrey leaf, mint and catnip. The drying nets are full! I am fortunate to be able to forage the edges and pathways of this very large garden and find all sort of plants that others say are "just weeds". There is no such thing.
There is quite a bit of Oregon grape that has volunteered around this garden but getting the roots out of the soil isn't easy as it tends to grow with other woodland shrubs that have shallow roots. Untangling them can be challenging. One of the things Oregon grape gives us is berberine in the yellow roots.

I'm looking forward to another trip north soon and a new adventure at another possible foraging site.

Try some forest bathing if you are feeling stress. It really works. The trees release beneficial substances into the air so breathe deep and just absorb all the goodness.

Lynn

Stellaria media, chickweed, is an annual flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout the world.
Chickweed contains; ascorbic-acid, beta-carotene, calcium, coumarins, genistein, gamma-linolenic-acid, flavonoids, hentriacontanol, magnesium, niacin, oleic-acid, potassium, riboflavin, rutin, selenium, triterpenoid saponins, thiamine and zinc.
Chickweed is laxative, demulcent, and anti-inflammatory. A poultice of chickweed may be useful topically for inflammation, abscesses, eczema, boils, psoriasis, ulcers, and itching. Internally, it's a demulcent and is a gentle laxative and may be soothing to the digestive tract. Chickweed may help protect against diabetes induced cardiac dysfunction, but more research is needed. It is full of antioxidants, which are protective for all of the body’s systems. It contains natural lecithin which specifically aids in fat metabolism. It may help balance beneficial bacteria in the gut, providing the optimum environment for healthy digestion. It is used in tea to help prevent scurvy and to fight upper respiratory illnesses. I am fortunate that is thrives on my clean land.