(Echinacea purpurea)
Jewels on the Hill
If you were to ask the average person on the street, who’d
had no prior knowledge about medicinal plants, about Echinacea, they would most
likely have heard about this plant and its immune-boosting properties. Echinacea
purpurea, more commonly known as purple coneflower, is that well known. In
fact, the successful use of Echinacea, in no small part, helped to inspire the
renaissance of interest in herbal medicine, which is currently occurring in our
country. While, during the approach of the 1960’s, folk medicine wisdom was
being lost at an alarming rate, it was during that decade that a resurgence of
interest occurred. This was largely related to the natural birth movement,
initiated by the ‘back-to-nature’ philosophy of that time, and a lot of nearly
forgotten crucial medicinal wisdom was unearthed. Through the efforts of many
deeply inspired individuals, a movement was born. The pouring over of
antiquated texts, diaries, and the seeking out of elderly herbalists (still
practicing in small, isolated rural pockets across the country) brought
long-forgotten medicinal wisdom back into public access.
Once, it was common for each rural family to have an herb
garden, in which they grew plants to meet their common ailment needs: boneset
(Eupatorium perfoliatum) regarded as a virtual cure-all, but especially as
strong medicine against fever; Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) used for
urinary tract infections, and for kidney stones; dandelion (Taraxacum
officinale) used as a detoxifying agent, and a diuretic, as well as a bitter
for digestive problems; Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) a stauncher of bleeding; and
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) was greatly relied upon for the healing of
bruises, sprains, and fractures – hence its other common name: Knitbone - were
but a few of the plants commonly relied upon by families of the day. Many of
these settlers had brought their own seeds from plants long-trusted in Europe,
and so, naturalized many plants we have come to think of as our own, including
the ubiquitous dandelion.
In addition, plants native to the United States, were
introduced to these immigrants by Native Americans. Plants like Black Cohosh
(Cimicifuga racemosa) a plant long-used for women’s ailments; and other
now-common plants such as corn, sunflower, and cayenne were all used
medicinally by Native Americans, and this knowledge was generously shared with our
founding peoples.
Since the resurgence of this knowledge in the 1960’s,
interest in the field has grown significantly, with herbalist schools growing
in number every year. As such, knowledge about the benefits and uses of
medicinal plants has become more commonplace. Along with it (no doubt as a result of the information
age) is the growing fascination with, and, an acceptance of, alternate types of
medicine. This offers alternatives to many who, for many reasons, traditional
medicine has failed to work, giving them broader opportunities for a more
gentle and often safer, route to healing.
Though conventional medicine is often referred to as ‘traditional’
medicine, this is truly a misnomer, for herbal medicine is the true traditional
method. With its rich, thousand-year history (well-documented by historians,
archeologists and anthropologists) herbal medicine is here to stay!
