Another awesome plant is Plantago Major commonly called Plantain. Steep the leaves lightly and place on open wounds or infections.
Medicine plant of the Day
- Thread starter Peanut
- Start date
Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:
Phyllanthus niruri, the common names are Chanca Piedra and Stonebreaker. I have no experience with this plant but it's listed in all my books for help in passing of kidney stones. More importantly, it's very good at preventing them from forming. It's a tropical plant but readily available in capsules on the net.
Also listed as a good preventative is lemon, Citrus limon... Instead of water drink lemonade!!! I buy it in gallon jugs at the market, drink it everyday.
I think i mentioned hydrangea already, excellent for dissolving kidney and gallstones. It's not a preventive and shouldn't be taken long term.
Goldenrod is excellent for calming inflamed kidneys (from stones).
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2017
- Messages
- 1,988
That's one of those common name conundrums. It depends on who is speaking and the context. Wild bergamont is a small citrus plant in europe.
Here in the states it most often used in reference to Monarda fistulosa, also known as lavender bee balm. I refer to the plant as Sweet leaf or Monarda f.
It's also used to reference a few other plants, all in the mint family. Especially on both gardening and cooking websites.
I don't use the name for any of the plants associated with it, leads to confusion.
A very good day out hunting plants. Checked a creek i saw recently, didn't have time that day. Met a man and his wife, herb people, trying to learn some plant medicine. Their 70 acres is a honey hole of good medicines, only they didn't know it. I could see dozens of species from their driveway. 
They also have crossvine, not very common locally. In fact they had the biggest crossvine i've ever seen! I've never seen one with a stem bigger than a #2 pencil. This vine was almost 2 inches in diameter!!!! I had no idea they even got that big!
It leans against their mail box... a lot bigger than a pencil!!
They also have crossvine, not very common locally. In fact they had the biggest crossvine i've ever seen! I've never seen one with a stem bigger than a #2 pencil. This vine was almost 2 inches in diameter!!!! I had no idea they even got that big!
It leans against their mail box... a lot bigger than a pencil!!
The folks i met today gave me 2 nice crossvine sprouts, got them set out already. Also gave me enough crossvine for tincture, a little less than a pint. Wish there were more but thankful for what i got.
Score! Got enough crossvine for about a quart of tincture, 1st pic. Didn’t plan on hunting today, too hot for one thing, 97f on my porch. Thought i'd scout some after lunch from the air conditioned comfort of my truck.
But the first thing i saw was crossvine and I had to harvest it. Being out in the sun was brutal. I almost got too hot, must have looked rough. Next I stopped at a house about a creek at the edge of their pasture. The lady who answered the door made me sit down, brought me ice water. It was hot!!!!
She was agreeable though, let me search their creek. Turns out she’s good friends with my cousin and his wife.
Also found a patch of Joe Pye weed by a dirt road. I’m thinking I’ll harvest some next June, bottom.
But the first thing i saw was crossvine and I had to harvest it. Being out in the sun was brutal. I almost got too hot, must have looked rough. Next I stopped at a house about a creek at the edge of their pasture. The lady who answered the door made me sit down, brought me ice water. It was hot!!!!
She was agreeable though, let me search their creek. Turns out she’s good friends with my cousin and his wife.Also found a patch of Joe Pye weed by a dirt road. I’m thinking I’ll harvest some next June, bottom.
You'd better take it easy in the heat. Hits quicker than you can imagine.
Not telling you anything you don't already know though
Not telling you anything you don't already know though
Found it in case anyone else is interested
Post in thread 'Can someone identify this plant?'
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/can-someone-identify-this-plant.3511/post-588949
@LadyLocust Be warned... poke berry juice stains anything it touches. In colonial days poke 'juice' was sometimes used as ink. It's the reason i don't mess with the berries. They make a semi-permanent mess.
I might try making ink too then
I am pretty good at making messes 
. Will probably keep it out in the summer kitchen- thanks for the heads up 
I like comfrey.
https://www.corinnawood.com/blog/comfrey-how-to-use
https://www.corinnawood.com/blog/comfrey-how-to-use
I got it going and now have 4-5 plants.
Or you could use the berries for a natural dye—it’s like a cranberry color. Mother Earth News has an article on using it for dye.I might try making ink too then
It’s interesting that so many of the plants @Peanut uses for medicine are also colorfast for dyeing.
I know indians used the red in coreopsis as dye. I like this red color, be nice to see something dyed with it. Some people have it in gardens as an ornamental. It's not used as a medicine these days that i'm aware.
Sort of neat... I read once that around the year 1900 pregnant women believed drinking coreopsis tea would ensure a son. Maybe a daughter, I don't remember which now. Read about it long ago. But I do remember this was done by women in oklahoma/kansas/arkansas area.
The plant grows all over us and canada. From photo's i know it's colors vary a little by region, different than here. And the amount of red varies also.
Sort of neat... I read once that around the year 1900 pregnant women believed drinking coreopsis tea would ensure a son. Maybe a daughter, I don't remember which now. Read about it long ago. But I do remember this was done by women in oklahoma/kansas/arkansas area.
The plant grows all over us and canada. From photo's i know it's colors vary a little by region, different than here. And the amount of red varies also.
They are a beautiful flower, but it won’t give red dye. Its sleeves and flowers produce yellow, orange and browns. The only plant that gives you true red is madder (root). Cochineal—which is a bug— gives you a richer red. Both were used by the British for their redcoats. Mordants and finishers can shift colors but all natural dyes are unpredictable. Indigo and woad need to be fermented to produce blue.
I need retire so I can play more (1448 more days).
Wasn’t indigo fermented in urine?
Stale urine never fresh.Wasn’t indigo fermented in urine?
Need to start a 'short timers' calendar. Old military tradition, big piece of cardboard marked lines filling the board with squares. Each square starting with 1448 has a number, counting down. X out each day. You probably already heard of it but in case...
Yellow, orange, brown? did not know that. I thought it was the red color. Now I'll have to dig through my books. I haven't researched it in years, need a refresher.
I had to just put saw it because that’s not something I can like or love or
Wild Color is good book that details what color comes from what of the plant and what it would be with different mordants and finishers. Iron water (rusty bits of metal in a jar) saddens colors.Need to start a 'short timers' calendar. Old military tradition, big piece of cardboard marked lines filling the board with squares. Each square starting with 1448 has a number, counting down. X out each day. You probably already heard of it but in case...
Yellow, orange, brown? did not know that. I thought it was the red color. Now I'll have to dig through my books. I haven't researched it in years, need a refresher.
I joke that I should start making hash marks on the garage wall every day I go to work.
Reminded me... Speaking of medicine… I remember my grandpa telling me about rusty nails in water. He was anemic as a kid, common back then. The traveling doc would prescribe new horseshoe nails in a jar with water. Kids would have to drink rusty water everyday to get ‘iron’ back in their blood.
He hated it!
Oh those poor children.Reminded me... Speaking of medicine… I remember my grandpa telling me about rusty nails in water. He was anemic as a kid, common back then. The traveling doc would prescribe new horseshoe nails in a jar with water. Kids would have to drink rusty water everyday to get ‘iron’ back in their blood.
Yet simple and effective!!
I've looked for a good local spot to harvest crossvine for 20yrs. It grows here but it's extremely difficult to find and then only single small vines. I’ve never found anything close to a good spot. In the past i've driven 400miles round trip to get crossvine where it's plentiful.
This pile was in two dead trees, opposite sides of the road. Both were slender white oaks about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Maybe 25ft tall, been dead 5 or 6 years. The timber had been clear cut and pines set out. I harvested from one tree yesterday. Thought I’d get that much again in the other tree but the vine broke. I couldn’t reach it. Well crap, now it was going to die and I couldn’t use it.
Friends came to help me this morning. First we harvested Sida and elderberries here then drove a few miles to the crossvine tree. My friends used to have a tree trimming business, their son still does. They had all the tools for getting a rope around the dead tree about 20ft up. Then we pulled the dead snag over and got the crossvine. It was almost rotted through but not quite. But not problem for 2 guys to pull over.
There was 3 times the amount of crossvine I got yesterday, “happy dance”. Here’s the whole pile in my floor. I won’t have to harvest again for at least 5yrs. I’m completely exhausted now. I did get too hot yesterday, had fever and chills last night. Almost like I got a bad sun burn but I didn’t get burned, just felt that way. Slept worse than usual, I was almost none functional this morning. Funny, had to take crossvine tincture before leaving home just to get out my door.
Tomorrow I’ll start making more crossvine tincture... have about a dozen vines, lots of leaves, great medicine.
This pile was in two dead trees, opposite sides of the road. Both were slender white oaks about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Maybe 25ft tall, been dead 5 or 6 years. The timber had been clear cut and pines set out. I harvested from one tree yesterday. Thought I’d get that much again in the other tree but the vine broke. I couldn’t reach it. Well crap, now it was going to die and I couldn’t use it.
Friends came to help me this morning. First we harvested Sida and elderberries here then drove a few miles to the crossvine tree. My friends used to have a tree trimming business, their son still does. They had all the tools for getting a rope around the dead tree about 20ft up. Then we pulled the dead snag over and got the crossvine. It was almost rotted through but not quite. But not problem for 2 guys to pull over.
There was 3 times the amount of crossvine I got yesterday, “happy dance”. Here’s the whole pile in my floor. I won’t have to harvest again for at least 5yrs. I’m completely exhausted now. I did get too hot yesterday, had fever and chills last night. Almost like I got a bad sun burn but I didn’t get burned, just felt that way. Slept worse than usual, I was almost none functional this morning. Funny, had to take crossvine tincture before leaving home just to get out my door.
Tomorrow I’ll start making more crossvine tincture... have about a dozen vines, lots of leaves, great medicine.
Last edited:
This is an old picture... a single crossvine. What i normally find here, barely made a half pint of tincture. It's not what i'd call common locally. It's here but all i ever see is one or two little vines.
This picture was the last time I drove 400miles for crossvine. If I'm driving that far I'm bringing back a pile! Lasted almost 10 years. Just wish it grew like this here!
Can you start your own crossvine? I don't know how easy it is to root or how long it takes to mature! Most vine plants start roots easily in a vase of water!
Can you start your own crossvine? I don't know how easy it is to root or how long it takes to mature! Most vine plants start roots easily in a vase of water!
Getting roots is easy, I have 4 vines set out now. Got 2 in May and 2 more last monday. I hope they grow... I've had bad luck transplanting them, every attempt has failed. Don't know what i'm doing wrong, followed the growing guides to the letter. Maybe these will grow, fingers crossed.
