Signs of Life: The Persistance of Green Medicine
Yes, it is January here in the mountains of New Mexico. Yes, it does get to less than -10F out there some nights. And why yes, that is a lovely new vivid green leaf from a picture I took just yesterday. Specifically, it is the leaf of a Wax Currant (Ribes cereum) growing down by the river among the Canyon Walnuts and Grape vines. While it will still be quite some time before they flower and fruit, they are well known for their persistence in leafing out even during some of our coldest weather. I greatly appreciate this tenacity, especially as we get to the part of Winter where I feel an increasing longing for green growing plants. ~~~~ Another persistent plant that manages to grow throughout the Winter, and sometimes even flower, is one of our native vervains....
Pantry Medicine: Onion Poultices, Syrups and Tinctures
Pantry Medicine: Onion Poultices, Syrups & Tinctures by Kiva Rose Botanical Name: Allium cepa Botanical Family: Amaryllidaceae Taste: Spicy, sweet, acrid, diffusive Energetics: Warm, dry Vital Actions: Diaphoretic, diuretic, rubefacient, expectorant, circulatory stimulant, smooth muscle relaxant Therapeutic Effects: Antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cough suppressant (not a true suppressant, but does usually reduce frequency and intensity of spasmodic and insistent lingering coughs) As a little girl growing up in both urban and rural areas, I was fascinated by the wild onions that grew in my family’s yard and all in surrounding fields and riversides. I grew up with gardens, but the very idea that a familiar food in the form of a much more smelly feral...
Mending With the Devil’s Darning Needles: The Pain Relieving Properties of Clematis
Common Name: Virgin’s Bower, Traveler’s Joy, Love Vine, Lady’s Bower, Sugar Bowls, Devil’s Darning Needles, Pepper Vine, Leather Flower, Vasevine Botanical Name: C. neomexican, C. chinensis, C. virginiana and other related species. Botanical Family: Ranunculaceae Botanical Description: Generally semi-woody climbing vines with opposite leaves, trifoliate. Dioecious flowers with four sepals, no petals and numerous stamen. Achene fruits that look like long, narrow feathers. Parts Used: Leaf, vine, root bark Flavor: Spicy/pungent, salty Impression: Acrid Energetics: Hot, dry Actions: Vascular tonic (vasodilator), relaxant nervine, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory Specific indications: Arthritis worsened by cold, damp conditions or weather. Migraines from...
Wild as the Day is Long: The Restorative Medicine of Avena
There’s nothing quite like the sound of a warm spring wind rustling through a vibrantly green patch of Oats. Bowed with the weight of their ripening fruit, they nod and toss their heads with each breeze. Their sweet smell and long smooth leaves certainly invite us to sit down and get acquainted with them. In case you can’t tell, Avena is a favorite plant of mine, both as a beautiful living plant and as a primary medicine in my materia medica. Many people think of gruel or porridge when they hear the word Oats. For some, this is a pleasant association of home-cooked food and for others, not so much. Most don’t necessarily connect Oats to medicine or even to a live plant but rather to that flaky brown stuff in the round cardboard container many of...
Sawtooth Sage: A Soothing Southwestern Nerve Tonic
Botanical Name: Salvia subincisa Botanical Family: Lamiaceae Common Name: Sawtooth Sage Energetics: Cool, dry Taste: bitter, aromatic (skunky) Actions: Relaxant nervine, nervous system trophorestorative Parts Used: Flowering tops Come August and our annual summer rains, a lush abundance of flowering plant will grow in the cool shade of Alder trees. Among these will be a diminutive and graceful plant with tiny blue flowers and sharply toothed leaves. At first glance, it is barely noticeable among many larger and more brightly colored plants. Closer up, its classically Lamiaceae type blossoms draw the eye and rich green foliage invite touch. Rubbing a leaf between the fingers releases a savory and pleasant, yet somewhat skunky aroma. This lovely little herb, a...
From the Lion’s Mouth: Dancing a Weedy Revolution
From the Lion’s Mouth: Dancing A Weedy Revolution by Kiva Rose Hardin http://animacenter.org Common Name: Dandelion Botanical Name: Taraxacum spp. Taste: Bitter, sweet Energetics: Cool, dry “It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stony street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun” - Henry Ward Beeche “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them” - A. A. Milne, Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh If there’s a single personal symbol of hope for me, it’s that golden-faced flower that peeks out from under trash-strewn vacant lots, takes over carefully controlled lawns, bursts from sidewalk cracks and blooms even on land damaged by...
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