| Habitat:
Wet Open Places. Common in swamps,
marshes and near streams.
Dosage:
Infusion:
pour a cup of boiling water onto 1-2
teaspoonfuls of the dried herb and leave to
infuse for 10-15 minutes. This should be drunk
as hot as possible. During fevers or the flu
it should be drunk every half hour.
Tincture:
Take 2-4ml of the tincture three times a day.
Combinations: In
the treatment of influenza it may be combined
with Yarrow, Elder Flowers, Cayenne or Ginger.
With Pleurisy Root and Elecampane in bronchial
conditions.
American
Indian Use
Abnaki
- Used to mend bones.
Cherokee - Used
as a tonic, sudorific, stimulant, emetic,
purgative, antiseptic and diuretic.
Infusion taken for colds, sore throat and flu.
Taken for fever and "biliary
system."
Infusion taken for "ague," colds and
flu.
Chippewa -
Root used to correct irregular menses.
Poultice of boiled plant tops applied for
rheumatism.
Root fibers applied to whistles and used as a
charm to attract deer. Poultice of
chewed plants applied to rattlesnake bites.
Delaware -
Infusion of roots and occasionally the leaves
used for chills and fever. Infusion of
root, sometimes with leaves, used for chills
and fever. Infusion of leaves,
considered a powerful herb, taken as a stomach
medicine.
Iroquois -
Infusion of roots taken for pains in the
stomach and on the left side. Poultice
of smashed plants applied for headaches.
Compound decoction of roots taken for the
kidneys or colds.
Infusion of stems with leaves taken during the
onset of a cold.
Infusion of roots used as a wash and applied
as poultice to syphilitic chancres.
Infusion of whole plant, plant tops or roots
taken for fevers. Plant used for piles.
Compound decoction of flowers and leaves taken
as a laxative. Decoction of smashed
plants and roots taken for typhoid.
Cold, compound infusion of leaves applied as
poultice to broken bones. Decoction of
roots taken for stricture caused by
menstruating girls. Plant put in enemy's
liquor flask to kill him and used for sorcery.
Decoction of smashed roots taken to stop the
liquor habit. Decoction of roots taken
for pneumonia and pleurisy. Infusion of
roots used as a wash and applied as poultice
to syphilitic chancres. Infusion of
whole plant given to horses with fevers.
Plant put in enemy's liquor flask to kill him
and used for sorcery. Plant
used for divination.
Koasati -
Decoction of leaves taken as an emetic.
Decoction of roots taken for urinary troubles.
Menominee -
Infusion of whole plant used for fever.
Meskwaki -
Infusion of leaves and blossoms used to expel
worms. Root used for snakebite.
Micmac - Parts of
plant used for gonorrhea and kidney trouble.
Parts of plant used for persons spitting blood
and gonorrhea.
Mohegan -
Infusion taken for many ailments, colds, fever
and general illness. Simple or compound
infusion of leaves taken in small doses for
colds. Infusion of leaves taken in small
doses for colds and fever. Bitter
infusion taken for colds and fever.
Leaves used for stomach trouble and colds.
Infusion taken for many ailments, colds, fever
and general illness. Infusion of leaves
taken in small doses for "general
debility." Complex compound
infusion including boneset taken as spring
tonic.
Nanticoke
- Compound infusion of whole plant taken for
chills and fever.
Penobscot -
Compound infusion of plant taken as a tonic
and for "spitting up blood."
Compound infusion of plant taken for gonorrhea
and kidney trouble.
Rappahannock
- Infusion of dried leaves, picked before
flowers matured, taken as a tonic.
Seminole -
Decoction of plant used as a gentle emetic.
Plant used as a fever medicine.
Shinnecock -
Bitter infusion taken for colds and fever.
Infusion taken cold, then a hot cup before bed
to cause perspiring. Bitter infusion
taken for colds and fever.
Historic
Reference
"It
was on of the most powerful remedies of the
native tribes for fever, &c. It has been
introduced extensively into practice all over
the country...It acts powerfully on the skin
and removes obstinate cutaneous
diseases...This plant may be so managed as to
act as a tonic, a sudorific, a laxative or an
emetic, as required. Not other tonic of
equal activity can be exhibited in fevers,
with less danger of increasing the excitement
of producing congestion; the only objection to
its general use is its nauseous and
disagreeable taste." 1828
Rafinesque
"A
favorite and well known remedy with the
Aborigines is the Eupatorium perfoliatum...Its
taste is intensely bitter, with a slight
astringency, but no acrimony...The native
administer it with good effect in fever, and
as a common drink in acute rheumatism, pouring
a quart of boiling water on two drachms of the
leaves, and drinking about three ounces three
times a day." 1847
Winder Montreal
"There
is probably no plant in American domestic
practice that has more extensive or frequent
use than this. The attic, woodshed, of
almost every country farm house, has its bunch
of dried herb hanging, tops downward from the
rafters during the whole year, ready for
immediate use should some member of the
family, or that of a neighbour, be taken with
a cold...The use of a hot infusion of the tops
and leaves to produce diaphoresis, was handed
down to the early settlers of this country by
the Aborigines, who called it by a name that
is equivalent to ague-weed."
1892 Millspaugh
"Boneset
tea...is drunk for many ailments, colds,
fever, and general illness." 1915
Speck-Tantaquidgeon MOHEGAN
Root
fibres combined with those of milkweed applied
to whistle for calling deer. 1926-27
Densmore CHIPPEWA 376.
"This
plant is used to brew tea which is used to
dispel a fever. The Menomini name for
this plant was not known to my informant.
He thought it was a later one acquired from
the white man." 1923
H. Smith MENOMINI
"McIntosh
uses the tea of the foliage and flowers to
expel worms. The Meskwaki do not use it
now, but say that long ago it was gathered for
its root which was sure cure for snake
bites." 1928
H. Smith MESKWAKI
Boneset a
tonic. 1924-25
Parker SENECA
Boneset
for colds and fever.
1942
Fenton IROQUOIS
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