Herbal Encyclopedia

Common Medicinal Herbs For Natural Health

Carob

By

Botanical Name

  • Family Leguminosae
  • Ceratonia siliqua

Common Names

  • St. John’s Bread, Locust Bean, Locust Pods, Sugar Pods

Cautions

  • None listed

Description

Native to southeastern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, carob is derived from a evergreen tree, growing to thirty feet, having compound leaves, green flowers, and large violet-brown bean pods. Carob flourishes in poor soil in warm climates; and, it is said, that it “wants the sight of the sea”. It is widely cultivated for its fruits which are the pods.

History

In ancient Egypt, carob pods were combined with porridge, honey, and wax as a remedy for diarrhea. It was also featured in recipes for expelling worms and in the treatment of poor eyesight and eye infections.

In the 1st century CE, Dioscorides wrote that carob acted to relieve stomach pain and settle the digestion.

Carob was also prominent in the rituals of the early Christian Church.

As a flour, the herb has gained more prominence as a substitute for chocolate, although the flavours are not at all similar.

Key Actions

  • anti-exudative
  • anticoagulant
  • antiviral
  • anti-diarrheal
  • mildly laxative
  • nutritive

Key Components

  • sugars (70%)
  • mucilages
  • flavonoids
  • fats
  • starch
  • proteins
  • vitamins
  • tannins

Medicinal Parts

  • Fruit, bark

Traditional Uses

Although it may seem contradictory, carob has both the actions of an anti-diarrheal and a laxative. It is an example of how the body responds to herbal medicines according to need, as well as how the herb is prepared. A decoction of the pulp is used to cleanse gently and relieve irritation within the gut, while the bark, which is strongly astringent, is used to treat diarrhea.

Used as a dietary agent for acute nutritional disorders, diarrhea, dyspepsia, enterocolitis, celiac disease, and sprue as well as for habitual vomiting in babies or for a retching cough.

The seed flour is used in the production of gluten-free starch bread used to combat vomiting during pregnancy, celiac disease, and obesity.

Blackberry

By

Botanical Names

  • Family Rosaceae
  • Rubus fruticosus
  • Rubus villosus

Common Names

  • American Dewberry, Bramble, Brambleberry, Goutberry, High Blackberry, Thimbleberry

Cautions

  • None listed.

Description

Native to temperate areas of Europe and now naturalized in the Americas and Australia, growing along roads, in open areas, and woodlands. The plant is a sprawling, prickly shrub, growing to twelve feet having palm-shaped leaves with three to five lobes, white to pale pink flowers, and clusters of large, black berries that contain numerous edible, but crunchy, seeds.

History

In the 1st century CE, Dioscorides recommended blackberries in a gargle for sore throats, a practice that remains today.

In European folk medicine, the leaves have long been used for washing and staunching the bleeding of wounds.

In parts of England, arching blackberry runners that had rooted at both ends were credited with magical properties. Children with hernias were pushed under these arches for a magical cure.

The Kiowa-Apache, Cherokee, Chippewa, Ojibwa, Menominee, Delaware, and Iroquois all have used decoctions to treat diarrhea. The Chippewa used a tea to treat lung conditions. The Cherokee found that the root made an effective topical wash to relieve the discomfort of hemorrhoids.

Key Actions

  • astringent
  • antidiarrheal

Key Components

(a) Leaves

  • tannins (8-14% mainly gallo tannins, dimeric ellagitannins)
  • flavonoids
  • fruit acids (gallic, citric, isocitric)

(b) Fruit

  • anthocyanins
  • pectin
  • fruit acids
  • vitamin C

(c) Roots

  • saponins
  • tannins

Medicinal Parts

  • Leaves, berries, roots.

Traditional Uses

  • Since the plant is strongly astringent, infusions are used to relieve diarrhea.
  • As a mouthwash, it is used to strengthen spongy gums and ease mouth ulcers. The berries make a pleasant gargle for swallowing.
  • Poultices or compresses are used externally on wounds and bruises.
  • Decoctions are used to relieve diarrhea and hemorrhoids. The tannins in the herb, not only tighten tissue, but also help to control minor bleeding.

Avocado

By

Sliced AvacadoBotanical Name

  • Family Lauraceae
  • Persea americana

Common Name

  • many variations

Cautions

  • The leaves and bark can stimulate menstration, as well as inducing abortions, so should not be taken during pregnancy.

Description

Native to Central America, the avocado is cultivated mainly for its fruit in tropical and subtropical regions which include Israel, Spain, and South Africa. It is an evergreen tree growing to seventy feet, with dark green, leathery leaves and white flowers. The fruit is picked when fully grown, and the leaves are harvested as needed.

History

The Maya of Guatemala have long used the avocado to stimulate hair growth, repel worms, and treat diarrhea. The fruit pulp is often used as a baby food there and in South Africa.

It was widely used throughout the Aztec empire for both food and medicine. All parts of the avocado tree was used medicinally.

Key Actions

(a) Leaves and Bark

  • astringent
  • carminative
  • diuretic
  • relieves coughs
  • promotes menstrual flow

(b) Fruit Pulp

  • carminative
  • emollient
  • nutritive

(c) Rind

  • antiparasitic

(d) Seed

  • antibiotic

Key components

(a) Leaves and Bark

  • flavonoids
  • tannins
  • volatile oil (methylchavicol, alpha-pinene)

(b) Fruit Pulp

  • protein (25%)
  • sesquiterpenes
  • unsaturated fats
  • vitamins A, B

Medicinal Parts

  • Leaves, fruit, bark, seed, peel

Remedies

  • Oil from the seed is of good quality and is used for food, as well as for the skin.
  • Decoction of the leaves or bark is used to treat diarrhea or dysentery.
  • The fruit pulp is a nourishing food, as well as being useful in treating wounds and helping them to heal quickly.

Traditional Uses

The leaves and bark have long been used to treat diarrhea, gas, and bloating, as well as to relieve coughs, liver obstructions, and clearing out uric acid, which causes gout.

The rind is useful in expelling worms.

The fruit is used externally to soothe the skin, help heal wounds, and to stimulate hair growth. Consumption of the fruit is encouraged because of its essential fatty acids and protein.

Amargo

By

Botanical Name

  • Family Simaroubaceae
  • Quassia amara (Amargo, Bitter Wood, Bitter Ash, Bitter Bark, Jamaica/Surinam/Japanese Quassia (Bark), Cuasia or Hombre Grande [Spanish])
  • Picrasma excelsa syn. Picraenia excelsa (Quassia, Ash, Bitter Ash, Bitterwood)

Cautions

  • It is contraindicated during pregnancy.
  • It should not be used by menstruating women as it may cause uterine colic.
  • Excessive doses may cause irritation of the digestive tract and vomiting.

Description

Native to the Caribbean, Jamaica, and northern Venezuela, amargo can be found growing from southern Mexico to Brazil. It is a deciduous tree that can reach 100 feet, but usually it is a smaller size of about twenty feet. This shrubby tree produces smooth, gray bark, compound leaves, small red flowers, and pea-sized black fruits. It can be found growing in forests near water, but it is also cultivated for its medicinal use. The bark is harvested throughout the year.

History

Quassia bark was first introduced into Europe from Suriname in 1756 and named after Quassia, a native healer, who told Europeans of its therapeutic value.

Although a tincture of the wood chips is prepared for use today as a digestive aid, native Jamaicans long ago devised another method to accomplish the same purpose. They carved cups and bowls from the wood, which imparted the bitter flavour of Quassia to any food that was poured into them. Thus, their foodstuffs became impregnated with the bitter principles, making digestion of the foods easier since only a small amount is required.

Key Actions

(a) Amargo

  • anthelmintic (for ascarid, pinworms, and threadworms)
  • choleretic
  • digestive stimulant
  • purgative

(b) Quassia

  • antimicrobial
  • antiviral
  • anthelminthic
  • anti-tumor
  • insecticidal

Key Components

(a) Amargo

  • triterpenes
  • indole alkaloids

(b) Quassia

  • bitter substances (quassinoids and canthinones)
  • alkaloids
  • a coumarin (scopoletin)
  • vitamin B1

Medicinal Parts

  • Bark
  • Some of the quassinoids have cytotoxic action, that is, they have a destructive effect on leukemia cells.
  • Other quassinoids stimulate secretions of the gastric juices which increases the appetite and aids digestion. They may also have a choleretic effect, that is, stimulating bile production by the liver.
  • Research has indicated that the substance quassin is responsible for an antifertility effect. Extracts from the stem wood appeared to shrink the testes of test animals, as well as significantly reducing both sperm count and testosterone levels in the blood.

Remedies

  • Decoctions are used internally to treat digestive complaints and externally, as an insect repellent.

Traditional Uses

Quassia is used in various countries for more or less the same thing, that is, to stimulate the appetite and promote digestion.

Homeopathic remedies are used for gallbladder complaints, as a bitter tonic, a purgarive and anthelmintic; but mainly, it supports and strengthens weakened digestive systems by increasing bile flow and the secretion of salivary juices and stomach acids. It is commonly used to stimulate a weakened appetite, especially in the treatment of anorexia.

The herb’s bitterness has also led to its being used as a treatment for malaria and other fevers.

Quassia chips are yellowish bits of wood commonly found in herbal supply stores in many parts of Latin America. They have two purposes. One is as an anthelmintic and frequently used for pinworms. The other is a stimulant to the digestion as they contain potent bitter principles.

In Mexico and Brazil, amargo is made into a decoction to be used for dyspepsia, as well as loss of appetite. Mexicans also use the bark to treat intestinal parasites.

In Costa Rica and Suriname, it is used for fevers, malaria, and dysentery.

In Brazil, it is used to treat gonorrhea, for lice and worm infestations, and as an antiseptic for wound treatments.

In Costa Rica and Brazil, it is used for diarrhea, dysentery, and intestinal gas. It is said that the indigenous carry around wood shavings of the bark to be used in decoctions whenever needed.

In Guyana, it is used for snake bites, liver disease, edema, and menstrual complaints.

In the Caribbean, it is given for dysentery. The bark has also been used in enemas to expel threadworms and other parasites.

The bark has been widely used as a febrifuge (fever reducer) and insecticide.

The plant is so bitter — more so than quinine — that extracts of it are used commercially in the production of bitters and other flavorings.

In Central America, the wood is used to construct clothing storage boxes to keep away moths.

A most unusual use is to treat alcoholism. By mixing an extract with sulfuric acid and other substances to produce a tonic, it is said to destroy the appetite for alcohol. This use is not recommended, however, because of the sulfuric acid.

Amaranth

By

Botanical Name

  • Family Amaranthaceae
  • Amaranthus hypochondriacus

Common Names

  • Lady Bleeding, Lovely Bleeding, Love-Lies-Bleeding, Red Cockscomb, Velvet Flower, Pilewort, Prince’s Feather, Pig Weed, Cockscomb
  • Spanish: Alegría, Chile Puerco, Chichilquiltic
  • Nahuatl: Tlanepaquelitl, Quíhlitl, Huauhtli
  • Maya: Kix-xtez

Cautions

  • None listed

Description

Native to India and South America, it now grows wild in many countries as well as being cultivated. A common garden plant, it is a sturdy, upright annual growing to about three feet, having deeply veined, lance-shaped, purple-green leaves that grow to six inches. The flowers are tufts of small, deep crimson spikes which are harvested when in flower in late summer and early autumn.

History

The name comes from the Greek word meaning “unwithering”. It was used to decorate their tombs to signify immortality.

Key Actions

  • astringent
  • nutritive

Key Components

  • saponins
  • tannins

Medicinal Parts

  • Aerial parts

Remedies

  • decoctions to counter heavy menstruation
  • gargles to soothe throat inflammations
  • mouthwashes to heal canker sores

Traditional Uses

The astringency of the herb is useful in reducing blood loss and to treat diarrhea.

A decoction not only counters heavy menstrual bleeding, but also excessive vaginal discharge, diarrhea, and dysentery.

A related species called Quinoa or Inca Wheat, A. caudatus, is also a nutritious Andean grain. Both quinoa and amaranth are used as a grain or eaten cooked as a cereal. Another variety, A. grandiflorus, is used as a food by the Australian Aborgines. Still another variety, A. spinosus, is used in Ayurvedic medicine to reduce menstrual bleeding and excessive vaginal discharge and to arrest the coughing up of blood.

Alder

By

Botanical Name

  • Family Betulaceae
  • Alnus glutinosa and other Alnus species

Common Names:

  • Black Alder, Common Alder, Owler, Tag Alder

Cautions

  • Not to be confused with another plant called Black Alder (Rhamnus frangula syn.Frangula alnus Family Rhamnaceae) which is closely related to Cascara.

Description

Indigenous to the damp regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, alder is a small tree with fissured, orangey bark, growing as high as seventy feet and producing notched, oval leaves which can be very sticky when young. The male flowers are arranged in stemmed catkins, while the female flowers form ovoid fruits which turn woody and remain on the tree the entire year. Thriving in damp places along riverbanks, it now grows in much of the Northern Hemisphere. It is almost identical in appearance to the oak. The bark and the leaves are gathered in spring or fall and best used fresh or from recent collections.

History

Water resistant, the tree was used in the construction of Venice. Wooster Beech (1794-1868), founder of the Eclectic healing movement, used a decoction of the bark to purify the blood.

Key Actions

  • antimicrobial
  • astringent
  • heals wounds
  • stops bleeding

Key Components

  • anthraquinone (emodin)
  • flavonoids (including hypericin)
  • glycosides
  • lignans
  • tannin (10-20%)

Medicinal Parts

  • Bark, leaves

Remedies

  • Decoctions are used as a tonic and to treat intestinal bleeding.
  • Gargles from the decoctions are used to treat streptococcal throat infections.
  • Compresses soaked in decoction are used to stauch wound bleeding and to help heal them.
  • Washes are used for scabies.
  • Poultices from the leaves are used to help reduce breast engorgement of nursing mothers.

Traditional Uses

Alder is most often used as a mouthwash and gargle for tooth, gum, and throat problems. Its drying action helps to contract the mucous membranes and reduce inflammation.

Since the bark is high in tannin, it can be used in all situations where astringency is needed, including diarrhea, gum inflammations, and sore throats.

For external use, it is good as a wash for cuts, hives, poison ivy, swellings, wounds, and sprains.

In Spain, the leaves are smoothed and placed on the soles of the feet to relieve aching.

The PDR for Herbal Medicines mentions an ophthalmic powder, but gives no further information.

Agrimony

By

Botanical Name

  • Family Rosaceae
  • Agrimonia eupatoria, A. procera, A. pilosa and other Agrimonia specie

Common Names

  • Stickwort, Cocklebur, Liverwort, Common Agrimony, Philanthropos, Church Steeples, Sticklewort

Cautions

  • No adverse effects have been noted. In fact, it is considered safe enough for children. However, because of its tannins, which are astringent, it should not be taken in large quantities as it can cause constipation or other digestive problems.
  • It may also increase sensitivity to the sun if too much is taken.

Description

A native European herb, the plant is an erect, downy, and slightly aromatic perennial that grows to about three feet in height. It is commonly found in marshes, wet meadows, and open areas. The paired leaves are green above and silvery-green beneath. The yellow flowers are small, five-petaled growing on the terminal spikes, and are collected while in bloom during the summer.

History

The Latin name eupatoria was derived from Mithridates Eupator (d. 63 BCE), King of Pontus in northern Turkey, who was said to have had a profound knowledge of plant lore.

It is the main ingredient in “arquebusade water”, a 15th century battlefield remedy for wounds.

Native Americans mainly used two types, A. eupatoria anA. gryposepal. The Cherokee used it to normalize bowels, treat fever, ease hunger pangs in children, and build up the blood. Other uses included treating snake bites, jaundince, gout, and worms.

Key Actions

  • anti-inflammatory
  • antiparasitic and antibacterial properties (A. pilosa)
  • astringent
  • diuretic
  • encourages clot formation
  • mildly antiviral
  • stimulates bile flow
  • tissue healer

Key Components

  • bitter principle
  • coumarins
  • flavonoids (including luteolin)
  • minerals and vitamins B and K
  • polysaccharides
  • silica (connective tissue healer)
  • tannins
  • volatile oil

Medicinal Parts

  • Leaves, flowers, stems (aerial parts)

Remedies

  • infusion to treat diarrhea, especially in children and infants and can be taken by breast-feeding mothers to dose babies
  • wash from infusions to clean wounds, sores, eczema, and varicose ulcers, and a weak infusion as an eyewash for conjunctivitis
  • for tinctures, being more potent and drying than infusions and used for more serious conditions where phlegm and mucous stubbornly remain; also used for cystitis, urinary infections, bronchitis, and heavy menstrual bleeding
  • poultices of the leaves for migraine headaches
  • gargle made from an infusion for sore throats and nasal mucus
  • decoctions used in China for heavy uterine bleeding, blood in the urine, dysentery, and intestinal parasites
  • compresses soaked in a decoction to treat boils
  • douches using a strained decoction for treatment of Trichomonas vaginalis

Traditional Uses

It can be combined with cornsilk to treat cystitis and urinary incontinence.

Because it staunches bleeding and encourages clot formation, it has long been used to heal wounds.

It is also used in the treatment of kidney stones, mild diarrhea, sore throats, rheumatism, and arthritis.

It can help relieve skin, mouth, and throat inflammations, and has been used to treat colds and asthma. It is an astringent, so makes an effective antidiarrheal agent.

When applied topically, agrimony leaves can help draw out thorns and splinters, stop cuts from bleeding, and help heal eczema, skin wounds, and sores.

For educational purposes only.
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.