Foxfire 11: Wild Plant Uses, Gardening, Wit, Wisdom, Recipes, Beekeeping, Toolmaking, Fishing, and More Affairs of Plain Living

by Lacy Hunter;Foxfire Students Kaye Carver Collins

  Catnip tea is made by pouring about a pint of boiling water over a half cup of broken leaves and stems. Let this mixture stand for several minutes and then strain it.

  PLATE 69 Christmas Fern

  Christmas Fern (Polystichum) is an evergreen that got its name because of its generous use as a decoration at Christmastime. It was used in the winter for ills caused by cold and wet. Root tea was used for fever and chills. The toxicity of this plant is unknown.

  Colic Root (Aletris) is found in dry sandy soil and is gathered in the fall for the roots. This herb can be one to three feet tall with grass-like base leaves only. The leaves surround the stem in the form of a star. A white-yellow spike of flowers is produced from May through August. A concoction made from the root was used for diarrhea, rheumatism, and jaundice. It was also used for colic.

  PLATE 70 Colic Root

  Colt’s Foot (Tussilago farfara) grows along streams in wet, clay soil and has yellow spring blooms, which are seen before the leaves. This plant has many stalks, with each producing a yellow disc-shaped flower that only opens to the sun. The leaves, shaped like horses’ hooves, arrive from the roots and can be as large as seven inches wide. They are covered on the underside by thick, woolly hairs.

  Colt’s foot, which is not native to Southern Appalachia, is gathered for the roots and the leaves. Leaves are usually taken near full-growth size. Gertrude Mull shared that colt’s foot is good for coughing. ‘Just take [the leaves] of colt’s foot and make tea out of it.”

  PLATE 71 Comfrey

  Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is found in wasteland and has rough, thick leaves in branch fashion. The plant, which was introduced to the Southern Appalachian region, stands up to three feet tall and has large lower leaves and smaller, stemless upper leaves. Summer flowers are clustered, green, and four-petaled. Comfrey is collected in early spring or fall for the root. This plant can be dangerous if overused; therefore, readers should be cautious if they attempt to gather and use it.

  Of comfrey, Numerous Marcus said, “I’ve got some comfrey root growing in the garden. It’s good for arthritis and for when you get the gout in your foot. It’s good for your blood. It helps keep it purified. You have to boil the root and make a tea out of it. You put it in alcohol so it won’t sour. Most herbs you can use the roots. There’s not many that you can use the leaves off of. But you can take comfrey root and use the roots and leaves, either that you wish.”

  Dogwood (Coruns florida) is found in well-drained soil throughout the Southern Appalachian Mountains and is used in the fall for bark from the root. This spring bloomer displays numerous showy white petals on delicate branches, followed by small leaves that turn red in the fall.

  “Dogwood is easy to get,” according to Charles Thurmond. “It’s a stimulant; it picks you up. If you have got circulatory problems, it’s supposed to be good for them. The dogwood bark and flowers are tonics.”

  Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) likes damp, rich soil and can grow to ten feet in height. It possesses many smooth, light gray stems and large leaves on short stalks. Flowers are fragrant, five-lobed, and wheel-shaped, followed by clusters of juicy, small, round fruit. This shrub is gathered in June and July for the flowers and then from July to September for the berries, which are purplish black in color. The flowers are dried quickly. Berries must be carefully dried to avoid mold. Native Americans used a poultice of elderberry on cuts, sore limbs, and headaches. The bark, roots, leaves, and unripe berries are toxic, but the flowers and ripe berries are edible.

  Ginseng (Panax quinquefolia) grows well in moist, rich soil in the mountains. It is usually about one foot tall and has three larger leaves at the top with thin leaflets. As many as twenty small greenish white flowers bloom in a cluster from May through August, and crimson berries appear in July and August. The root is thick and can be three inches long and one inch thick. (For a photo of ginseng, see The Foxfire Book, page 235.)

  This increasingly rare plant is gathered in fall for the root. It is important to gather the root in the fall only, because roots gathered at other times shrink more during the drying process. But because this plant is rare and endangered, readers are asked to refrain from gathering it.

  Ginseng’s root is revered for its strong medicinal properties. It has been used for an aphrodisiac, for coughs, and as a heart stimulant. Because it is so popular, regulations have been placed on digging it.

  PLATE 72 Ginseng root and plant

  Numerous Marcus believed that “ginseng is good for arthritis and for sick stomachs. To use it for arthritis, you can make a tea and drink it. Just take the roots and boil them, get the strength out of them. Or you could take the liquid and rub it on your joints, and it would have the same effect. I’ve got ginseng growing right there in the garden. It takes ginseng about two years to come up.”

  Charles Thurmond said, “Another thing that is used around here [Southern Appalachians] a lot, but is very scarce, is ginseng. It is good for your stomach and has a calming effect on your nerves.”

  Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus) resembles a shrub and sometimes reaches a height of six feet. It has tiny, yellowish white flowers that bloom March through May. It was also called ghost breath. If you had a bad dream, you made a tea from the roots of ghost breath. Tea was also used to bathe swollen feet. The Cherokee Indians made a poultice of its root to treat bee stings.

  Golden Ragwort (Senecio) is found in swampy areas and damp meadows. A perennial plant reaching two to four feet in height, this herb has smooth, slender stems approximately two feet long. It has two leaf types—heart-shaped or rounded and lance-shaped—which grow from the base of the plant and can be tinted purple on the underside. The flowers are yellow and found in clusters at the top of the plant. They bloom from March through July. The root and leaves of ragwort were made into a tea traditionally used by Native Americans and settlers for childbirth complications; it was also used for lung ailments, dysentery, and difficult urination. It is primarily gathered for the entire herb and the root.

  Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is an increasingly scarce plant found in the open woods on hillsides, where soil drainage is good. It grows in patches and has a thick yellow root. Hairy stems come directly from the root and are about one foot tall with branches near the top. Each branch houses one small leaf, one large leaf, and a flower. Leaves can reach eight inches in diameter and have five to nine lobes. In spring, an unusual flower blooms, which is greenish white in color. Flowers are followed by large heads that turn red in the fall and resemble raspberries. Fresh roots are bright yellow throughout and become brittle when dry. Goldenseal is gathered in the fall after the heads are ripe for the root and in late summer for the leaves.

  Marie Mellinger wrote, “Best known as sang-sign is the ‘little brother of the ginseng’: the goldenseal.” Other names for Hydrastis include turmeric-root, tonic-root, ohio cucuma, orange-root, and jaundice-root. Its use as an eyewash gives it such names as eye-root and eye-balls.

  “Goldenseal has two divided green leaves topped by a whitish fuzzy flower in early spring. The blossoms have an oddly aromatic odor that attracts small bees and the bee-like flower flies. The single fruit resembles a red raspberry, but is poisonous if eaten. The medicinal part is the thick yellow rootstock collected in the autumn. The roots are a bitter demulcent and contain three strong alkaloids: berberine, canadine, and hydrastine. They were used in medicines called ‘bitters.’ In 1856, S. G. Goodrich wrote, ‘Bitters are esteemed as a sort of panacea, moral as well as physical, for even then morning prayer went heavily without it.’ The Herbalist states that goldenseal is ‘one of the most agreeable and expensive stomachics of the botanical kingdom, recommended for and esteemed as tonic for the liver and stomach. Weakened stomachs with enfeebled digestive powers are greatly benefited by its use. Goldenseal was used to stimulate circulation when hands and feet were cold, and the skin turned blue. It is also a fine herb to use on exzema or minor skin irritations.’

  “Any plant with yellow r
oots or strong yellow coloring matter was, according to the doctrine of signatures [if the plant was shaped like, or resembled, a human organ or disease characteristic, then that plant was useful for that organ or ailment], a remedy for yellow jaundice. Hydrastis was sometimes called yellowroot when used as jaundice medicine.”

  Numerous Marcus stated, “I’ve got some goldenseal planted up there above the barn. I ordered it. There is some of it in this country around here, but it’s a very scattered plant. You find it mostly back in North Carolina. It just grows in little patches around here. You can make a tea out of the roots of goldenseal. Take a little wad of the roots and put them down in a quart or a half gallon of liquor and let that set a while. Drink a little of that at a time. You don’t want to drink too much of that ’cause it’ll make you tired as the dickens. I never make too much of it at a time, because I’ve got friends who come in to see me that like it too!”

  “Take the powder out of goldenseal flowers. It’s good for cuts, keeps down infection. You just break [the blossoms] off, put ’em over paper, and let ’em drop. Sift that to get all the crumbs out of it to where it’ll just be pure stuff, the powder out of the blossoms,” Gertrude Mull added.

  Charles Thurmond said, “A true yellowroot is goldenseal. [It] has a very toxic effect if you overdose on it. [It] is good for colds and the croup.”

  Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) grows well in moist earth and is a common sight in the mountainous areas. This tree has short needles and small cones. The needles were brewed to make a tea for coughs and colds.

  PLATE 73 Hemlock tree

  Horseradish (Cochleria armoracia) enjoys rich soil and can reach heights of over two feet. (For a drawing of it, see Foxfire 2, page 77.) It is gathered and used for the root, which has a burning taste. As a blood builder, use the red part of the roots of the horseradish plant and drink as a tea. It was used to aid digestion.

  PLATE 74 Horseradish

  Indian Root (Aralia racemosa) is gathered in the fall for the root. The stems have many branches and can be six feet tall with very large leaves. Flowers appear in late summer to early fall and are produced in clusters. It likes moist, rich soil.

  Marie Meilinger said, “Aralia racemosa, called spignet, false-sarsaparilla, spiceberry shot-bush, or Indian root, is a tall, dramatic plant with huge dried leaves and a very showy panicle of fragrant flowers. Later the Aralia bears an abundance of juicy, garnet-red berries. The strong-smelling roots are dug in autumn. Aralia is a ‘cure-all.’ Sarsaparilla compound has been sold as ‘Nature’s best tonic of certain organic hormones.’ With ginseng it ‘eases ills of old age and prolongs life,’ but only for men, giving it such names as ‘life-of-man’ and ‘old man’s roots.’ The cooked roots have an agreeable aromatic smell and flavor and are sometimes used as food.”

  PLATE 75 Ironweed

  Ironweed (Vernonia or Verbena hastata) likes moist, open places and is gathered for using the entire herb. The stem is rough, straight, and covered with fine hairs. It can stand seven feet tall and branches out above the leaves, which are broad, toothy, and lance-shaped. This herb produces small blue flowers in clustered spikes that can be six inches long.

  Charles Thurmond told us, “Ironweed is very gentle. You don’t really realize it’s working. You make a concoction and use it on the surface of the skin for skin diseases and things like that.”

  Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema) grows well in shady, moist, wooded areas. It has smooth leaves that can be six inches long and three inches wide. The flower, which appears from April to early July, is shaped much like a calla lily and is green or green with eggplant-colored stripes. Fall brings a cluster of shiny deep red berries. The root (or corm) is turnip-shaped and has a strong burning taste. This plant is gathered in the summer for the root. The root is cut crosswise and dried to lessen the strong taste. Native Americans used the dried root for colds and coughs and to build the blood. Dried root poultices were used externally for rheumatism, boils, and swelling from snakebites.

  Jerusalem Oak Seed (Chenopodium anthelminticum) is a naturalized, strongly-odored weed that grows in open places and is gathered for using either the entire plant or the fruit only. It is a common plant. It has a stem of two to three feet with many branches and several lance-shaped leaves. The lower leaves are much larger than the upper leaves. In summer, flower spikes mixed with leaves appear. These are followed by small round berries that contain a small black seed. The strong odor comes from the potent oil contained in the plant. This oil is distilled from the berries alone or from the entire plant.

  Gertrude Mull told a story about using this plant. “One time, my brother got sick. Just looked like he had the nervous croup [not real croup, but the symptoms are similar]. We called the doctor, and the doctor gave him shots for the nervous croup, but [it turned out] he didn’t have it. There was an old neighbor woman come, and she said, I believe he’s wormy’ So she went out and got some peach tree bark and leaves and poured boiling water over that and made a poultice. She put that right across his belly. ‘Now,’ she says, ‘go to the store and bring some of this Jerusalem oak seed medicine, and we’ll try that on him.’

  “The doctor said he was too weak to do that. He said, ‘Maybe you’d better wait.’

  “That woman said, ‘I’m gonna put this poultice on him, and I’m going to the store and bring a bottle of worm medicine up here to give him.’ She went up there [and got the medicine]. She give him a dose of that and told my mother, ‘Tomorrow, you give him another’un. And you give him some castor oil after that and see.’

  “So she did, and they got sixty-some big round worms out of that little-bitty boy. He was only about three or four years old. And that boy got well. He always was a little ol’ weaselly-looking thing, and he seemed like he come out then [started growing].

  “From then on, she always give us kids that medicine about twice a year. She got worms from some of ’em but never did get none from me. I’d take it, but boy! I’d go through that stuff. Nobody knows. [Mama would make us] candy out of syrup and that Jerusalem oak seed. Boil the syrup, put a little sodie in it, and stir it. Cook it just like candy. Twist it just like tobacco. Then she’d break that all up in big pieces and pass it around for us to eat. We’d eat it that a-way. And you can feed that to your chickens or anything that’d get worms.”

  Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) grows well in wet places where shade is abundant. Stems are brown, can reach two feet tall, and hold variably sized, soft-green leaves. Charles Thurmond said, “Jewelweed grows all around the Foxfire office in Mountain City The juice inside the jewel-weed is a natural cortisone that is good for bee stings, poison oak, and poison ivy.”

  Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum) may grow as tall as six feet. Its cluster of several small pink flowers is slightly fragrant. Although there are several stories as to who Joe Pye really was, there is a general conssensus that he was an Abenaki Indian medicine man who lived in colonial New England. He earned his fame by “curing” typhoid fever and several other diseases by using concoctions made from this plant. In the Southern Appalachian Mountains, this plant is called queen of the meadow, a fitting name for this stately herb. It blooms August through September.

  PLATE 76 Joe-Pye Weed

  Native Americans had several uses for this plant. The one we found most interesting: a brave who was courting a young woman was assured of success if he stuck a wad of this plant in his mouth before he went visiting.

  Charles Thurmond described his experience with this plant by saying, “Joe-Pye weed is very close to boneset, and because of this, it can be used for fevers and such. I have found that a tablespoon for a child and two tablespoons for an adult is usually enough. Once, my grandmother saved one of my older uncles’ lives by breaking his fever.”

  Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis) grows in clumps in wooded, damp places. Now rare, this plant was used for headaches—you could sniff it or put it on the back of your neck. It has two green leaves with a white stalk of bell-shaped flowers.
The flowers are very fragrant. This plant is dangerous and should not be used internally.

  PLATE 77 Lily-of-the-Valley

  Linden Tree (Tilia americana) enjoys rich forestland in the mountains. It can grow to 125 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of 5 feet. Leathery leaves are pointed, toothy, and have one-or two-inch stems. Spring brings abundant flowers, which are yellowish in color, clustered, and fragrant. Collected from this tree are the bark and the flowers, which should be dried in the shade.

  As a remedy for “risings” [boils], use the inside surface of the bark to draw them to a head. A tea made from the flowers is used as a remedy for a stomachache.

  Liverwort (Hepatica americana) likes wooded areas and blooms in early spring. Its flowers, which arrive in April, stand on stems four to six inches tall. There are no petals, only five to nine sepals that protect the reproductive parts of the plant. The sepals of the Hepatica are delicate and usually pink, white, or lilac. Hairy, soft stalks of the plant spread along the ground. The leaves are leathery, thick, and round or kidney-shaped.

  Liverwort is gathered in April for the leaves. It is believed to be medicine for the liver.

  Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum) has wiry black stems with light green foliage and reaches a height of two feet. It is rarely found in poor soil. It was used mainly as a medicine for women.