tuberculosis Archives - Plight to Freedom

Great Burdock: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

April 13, 2016 by Mike 2 Comments

Great Burdock, Arctium lappa, is a common weed to waste places and roadsides known for it prickly burs. But what this wildflower lacks in beauty, it makes up for in practical use. The leaves, stalks and root are all edible. Medicinally, it has been used for a large variety of needs.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Great Burdock Sources:

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1118-1120

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon & Alfred Charles Kinsey. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print. pg. 364-367

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print. pg. 186-187

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 27

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 229

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 84

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 412-413

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 126-127

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Virginia Bluebells: Medicinal

February 26, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica, is nature’s nodding trumpet of spring. It is found in rich woods and meadows and has been used as a pulmonary aid, poison antidote and venereal disease remedy.

Virginia Bluebells Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 26

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 204

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 343

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 3196-197

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Tall Bellflower: Medicinal

February 20, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Tall Bellflower, Campanula americana, is a tall plant of moist thickets and stream banks with a starlike blue flower. The lance shaped, toothed, leaves are in an alternate pattern along the stem. Medicinally, this plant has been used by the Iroquois and Meskwaki Indians as cough medicine, for whooping cough and tuberculosis. For whooping cough smash three roots and steep them for thirty minutes in a teacup filled with hot water. Then take three tablespoons before meals. A similar remedy may have been used to treat consumption also known as tuberculosis.

Tall Bellflower Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 217

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 135

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 216-217

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.