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Herbs & Plants

Eriodictyon angustifolium

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Botanical Name : Eriodictyon angustifolium
Family: Boraginaceae
Subfamily: Hydrophylloideae
Genus: Eriodictyon
Species: E. angustifolium
Kingdom: Plantae

Common Names : Narrow-leaved Yerba Santa,Narrowleaf yerba santa

Habitat :Eriodictyon angustifolium is native to California and is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America. It is  found  primarily in California, Utah, Nevada, and Baja California.

Description:
Eriodictyon angustifolium is a perennial shrub.This plant has white, five-petalled flowers that bloom in June or July. The toothed leaves, about 10 centimeters in length, are sticky above and hairy below.

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You may click to see more pictures of Eriodictyon angustifolium :

Medicinal Uses:
An important lung and bronchial medicine, most useful when phlegm is loose, milky, and profuse and the lungs, throat, and  sinuses feel weak and boggy.  Often combined with Yerba de buey.  It also is effective for head colds and sinus infections. The cold tea is used as a disinfecting diuretic for bladder and urethra pain.  New research is showing that it also has some anti-microbial properties.

Yerba Santa’s medicinal properties are strongest right after blooming, either in late spring or after a drought-breaking rain has brought out new foliage. Use the leaves either fresh or dried. Gather by breaking off branches full of leaves. Spread out the branches or hang them individually to dry. If you leave the branches clumped together in a bag or box, the resin on the tops of the leaves will glue the leaves together so you will end up with a black, sticky, unusable mass. Once dried, the resin is no longer a problem. When using fresh leaves for tea or tincture, cut them into small pieces with scissors or a knife, then use alcohol to clean the resin build up from the utensil. If dried leaves are being used, simply crumble them into small pieces. For smoking, it is best to use the mature leaves that are starting to dry and turn yellow around the edges and are almost ready to fall off, found near the base of large stems and the main trunk of the bush.

Yerba Santa is a great upper respiratory herb. It has a resinous coating and is aromatic. Use as a tea or tincture for coughs, lung and sinus congestion and infused in oil for muscle and chest rubs. In order to infuse Yerba Santa into oil you must first sprinkle it with alcohol to dissolve the resins. Drink the tea hot to induce sweating to break a fever. Inhale the steam from the hot tea to clear sinus and chest congestion. It thins mucous and is useful as an expectorant, decongestant and bronchial dilator for chest colds, bronchitis, asthma, sinus infections and hay fever. The resin complex and phenols in Yerba Santa make it useful for mild bladder and urethra infections. Since these properties are only partially water soluble, an alcohol tincture is preferable, twenty to thirty drops in water several times per day. Yerba Santa has no specific toxicities in moderate doses and up to an ounce of the leaves can be used to make a tea or infusion to drink in one day. It is safe for children, using one half of the normal adult dose. The leaves can also be used in a vaporizor to relief congestion.

Inhaling smoke from Yerba Santa leaves is useful to calm mild bronchial spasms. Burning a Yerba Santa smudge can be used to warm up trigger points, especially on the hands and feet. This will give relief from headache and muscle spasms. The fresh leaves make a pleasant and tasty chewing gum, bitter and balsamic at first, with a sweet aftertaste which freshens the mouth and breath. In Baja, for skin eruptions, boil leaves with Atriplex and wash the sores. Or grind dry leaves and apply. For malaria, make a tea with Haplopappus and Larrea, and massage with the lotion. For stiff neck, tie the leaves around the throat. For sore throat, make a leaf tea. For aches, bruises, wounds, bruises, wounds, heat leaves, apply to affected area. For coughs, colds, boil leaves and drink.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=3181
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriodictyon_angustifolium
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/img_query?rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Eriodictyon+angustifolium
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_UZ.htm

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Herbs & Plants

Anemopsis californica

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Botanical Name :Anemopsis californica
Family: Saururaceae
Genus: Anemopsis
Species: A. californica
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Piperales

Common Names :lizard tail, Yerba Mansa, Bear Root

Habitat :Anemopsis californica is native to South-western N. America – California, Mexico.  It grows on wet, especially somewhat alkaline or saline marshy places, below 2000 metres. .

Description:
Yerba mansa  is a perennial flowering plant. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Anemopsis.  The conic white ‘flowers‘ (actually reduced inflorescences, or pseudanthia) are borne in early spring, and are surrounded by 4-9 large white bracts. As it matures, the visible part of the plant develops red stains, eventually turning bright red in the fall.
Flower Color: White bracts and yellow flowers

Flowering Season: Late spring, Summer

Height: To 18 inches (46 cm) tall

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The flower heads are yellow, cone-shaped, and surrounded by 4 to 8, unequal, 3/4-inch (2 cm) long, petal-like bracts. The leaves are green, thick and leathery, oblong in shape, and mainly basal. This plant forms large colonies.
Cultivation:
Requires shallow water or a wet muddy site in a humus-rich alkaline medium. Requires a warm position. Plants are hardy to about -5 to -10°c, and are probably hardiest when the rootstock is submerged. Another report says that they are hardy to about -15°c.

Propagation:
Seed – best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the summer. Stand the pots in about 3cm of water and germination should take place in about 5 weeks. Sow stored seed in a cold frame in the spring. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. making sure you keep the compost wet. Plant them out in late spring or early summer. Division in spring.

Edible Uses: The seeds are edible if ground into meal.

Medicinal Uses:
Yerba Mansa is considered by herbalists  to have many properties similar to Goldenseal though it is not related botanically or chemically  It is used for slowly healing boggy conditions of the mouth, intestinal and urinary tracts and lungs.  It is astringent to the connective tissues that form the membrane structure, but it stimulates better fluid transport, helping to remove the exudates that prevent repair of the irritation that began the whole mess.  Mouth, gum and throat sores are helped by the herb, as are ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.  Use ¼  teaspoon of either tincture in water, a standard infusion, 2-3 oz or 2 #00 capsules, 2-3 times a day.  It is also used for bleeding gums and herpes simplex.  As a diuretic, yerba mansa stimulates the excretion of nitrogenous acids, especially uric acid, which can aid many types of joint problems.  It is also substantially aspirin-like in its anti-inflammatory effects.  Drink as a tea for arthritis…1/2 cup up to 5 times a day.  It is antibacterial and antifungal, so it affords a fine external first aid or dressing for abrasions or contusions.  A sitz bath for bartholin gland cysts and perianal fissures or  boils usually  brings quick healing.   Use 1 teaspoon of the tincture per quart of water, or a 1:64 decoction of the powdered root.  The powdered root is an impeccable dust when mixed with four parts of a soothing starch for diaper rash and chafing.  The leaves, although much feebler and chemically simpler, make a fine bath for general pain of the muscles and joints.  A water percolation (1:10) with 20% glycerine and 10% alcohol added when finished, is an excellent nasal spray for hay fever, lingering head cold, or the results of cocaine or snuff abuse.  Used by itself (powdered root) or combined with Cypress and Chaparral, it’s an excellent for athlete’s foot.

You may click to see more medicinal Uses:

Other Uses:
Crafts
*Dried floral structures are used in dried arrangements.
*Dried plant parts, (leaves, floral structure) emit a spicy fragrance and are used in potpourri.

Horticulture
*In the deserts of California yerba mansa is being used as turf in public parks and ground cover in gardens.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:

Anemopsis californica – Yerba Mansa


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemopsis
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_UZ.htm

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Anemopsis+californica

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Herbs & Plants

Grindelia nuda var. aphanactis

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Botanical Name : Grindelia nuda var. aphanactis
Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower or  Aster family Family)
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom :Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision : Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division:Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class:Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Genus: Grindelia Willd. – gumweed
Species : Grindelia nuda Alph. Wood – curlytop gumweed

Common English Names: Curlytop Gumweed,Yerba del Buey

Habitat :Grindelia nuda var. aphanactis occurs in California, Utah, and Colorado south into Trans-Pecos Texas and Mexic

Description:
Grindelia nuda var. aphanactis is probably a perennial shurb, 15-250+ cm (taprooted, rhizomatous in G. oölepis). Stems (1-6+) usually erect , sometimes ascending or decumbent to prostrate , simple or branched, glabrous or hairy , often gland-dotted and/or resinous . Leaves basal and cauline or mostly cauline; alternate; petiolate (proximal ) or sessile (distal) ; cauline blades 1-nerved, oblong , obovate , oblanceolate , or spatulate to triangular, lanceolate, or linear (bases usually clasping ), margins usually serrate to dentate , sometimes entire, crenate , or pinnatifid (especially proximal), faces usually glabrous and gland-dotted, sometimes hirsutulous , hirtellous, puberulous , scabridulous , villous , or stipitate-glandular . Heads radiate or discoid , in corymbiform to paniculiform arrays or borne singly. Involucres usually globose to hemispheric or broadly urceolate , sometimes campanulate to obconic, 5-25+ mm diam. (excluding phyllary apices). Phyllaries (persistent ) 25-100+ in (3-) 4-9+ series, 1-nerved or obscurely so (± flat, proximally and/or medially thickened), mostly filiform , linear, or lanceolate, usually unequal, sometimes subequal , bases usually ± chartaceous (apices ± herbaceous, looped, hooked , patent , recurved, straight, or incurved ), abaxial faces usually glabrous and ± resinous. Receptacles flat or convex , ± pitted (pits sometimes flanked by membranous or setiform enations ), epaleate. Ray florets 0 or 5-60+, pistillate , fertile ; corollas yellow to orange. Disc florets (20-) 100-200(-300+), bisexual and fertile (all or outer) or functionally staminate (ovaries not producing cypselae) corollas yellow, tubes shorter than gradually to abruptly ampliate throats , lobes 5, erect or spreading , ± deltate (equal) ; style-branch appendages linear or lanceolate to ± deltate. Cypselae (whitish or stramineous to gray, brown, or reddish) ellipsoid to obovoid , ± compressed , sometimes ± 3-4-angled (apices smooth, coroniform , or knobby), faces smooth , striate , ribbed , furrowed , or rugose , glabrous; pappi falling, of (1-) 2-8[-15], straight or contorted to curled, smooth or barbellulate to barbellate , sometimes distally clavate , subulate scales , setiform awns, or bristles in 1 series (in G. ciliata, persistent or tardily falling, of 25-40 barbellate bristles subtending 8-15+ barbellate, setiform awns or subulate scales). x = 6.
CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Medicinal Uses:
Pharmaceutical uses include waxes and resins, and a source of acids and alkaloids used for kidney problems, skin abrasions, and sores. Sticky blossoms can be placed on an aching tooth. As a balsamic bitter tea, the flowering tops are widely used for sore throat and incipient chest colds; and combined with yerba santa and honey as an expectorant.  The sticky flowers, boiled are used to treat bladder and urethral infections. It is effective but intensely bitter. The flowers, boiled in lard are a stimulating salve for burns and slowly healing ulcers.  It is also used internally and externally to treat bites caused by red ants.  The sticky juice can hold cuts together until they heal.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://museum2.utep.edu/chih/gardens/plants/GtoM/grindelianuda.htm
http://zipcodezoo.com/Plants/G/Grindelia_boliviana/
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=GRNU
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=13119
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_UZ.htm

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Herbs & Plants

Dalea formosa

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Botanical Name : Dalea formosa
Family : Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Dalea L. – prairie clover
Species: Dalea formosa Torr. – featherplume
Kingdom : Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales

Synonym: Parosela formosa

Common Names: Featherplume, Feather-plume, Feather Dalea, Feathery Dalea,Yerba de Alonso Garcia

Habitat :Native to Arizona  Desert, Upland.Distributed to Colorado, southern Utah, western Texas and Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona , and northern Mexico . 2,000 to 6,500 (7,000) feet elevation  on dry, rocky hillsides , mountains, dry plains , mesas, southern canyons. Gravelly or rocky slopes in upper Mojavean, Arizona, and Chihuahuan deserts, desert grasslands, and southwestern oak woodland. In Arizona below the Mogollon Rim from Yavapai County southeastward to eastern Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties. It grows in dry, sunny, open areas and on rocky hillsides.

Description:
Dalea formosa is a Perennial, Deciduous Shrub or Subshrub grows Up to 3 feet (91 cm) tall

The flowers are pea-like, up to 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) long, sparsely clustered on loose flower spikes, and have a distinctive white-feathery calyx and a yellow or cream banner petal that fades to purple.Flowering Season is Spring to Summer  and flower Color is Purple and yellow or cream fading to all purple.

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The flowers are followed by flat, feathery seedpods. The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound with an odd number of small, gland-dotted, grayish green, narrowly oval, usually folded leaflets. The stems are grayish, woody, thornless, and well-branched from the base. This plant is long-lived, but rather slow-growing.

Fruit  is Obovate flat pod, 3 mm., pillose on apical margin, glandular-dotted, enclosed in calyx  indehiscent, 1-2 seeded .

Medicinal Uses:
Pueblo Indians and the Apaches used it as a treatment for growing pains and aching bones.  The Hopis use it for influenza and virus infections, considering it a “cold” herb for hot conditions.  New Mexican Spanish will make a strong bath with the branches and bathe in it for a couple of hours to relieve arthritic pains.
The Jemez Indians used decoction of leaves as a cathartic.

Other Uses:
Browsed by deer and lightly by livestock , kangaroo rats eat the seeds , pollinated by bees . Pueblo Indians dried the flowering branches for a sweet tea to relieve aches and growing pains. Hopi used as a remedy for influenza and viral infections (a “cold” herb for fevers) . The Acoma and Laguna Indians infused leaves as an emetic before breakfast, and to increase endurance and long wind for runners, as well as using it for firewood.  Sometimes used as an ornamental

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:

Dalea formosa – Featherplume


http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DAFO
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~plants-c/bio414/species%20pages/dalea%20formosa.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dalea_formosa_flowers.jpg

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Herbs & Plants

Satureja douglasii

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Botanical Name : Satureja douglasii
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Clinopodium
Species: C. douglasii
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales

Synonyms: Micromeria douglasii – (Benth.)Benth.,Satureja douglasii – (Benth.)Briq.,Thymus chamissonis – Benth.,Thymus douglasii – Benth.

Common Names :Yerba buena (The plant’s most common name, the same in English and Spanish, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (meaning “good herb”). The name was bestowed by pioneer Catholic priests of Alta California as they settled an area where the plant is native. It was so abundant there that its name was also applied to the settler’s town adjacent to Mission San Francisco de Asís. In 1846, the town of Yerba Buena was seized by the United States during the Mexican-American War, and its name was changed in 1847 to San Francisco, after a nearby mission. Three years later, the name was applied to a nearby rocky island; today millions of commuters drive through the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island that connects the spans of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge)

Habitat : Satureja douglasii is  native to California and is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America.It grows in Coniferous woods.
Yerba Buena is found in woods near coast and coast ranges from Los Angeles to British Columbia. Prefers shade and moisture.

Description:
Satureja douglasii  is a creeping flat low growing   perennial herb that can spread to 3′ but is easily held to 1′. A good ground cover without being aggressive, easy to keep small. The stems grow across the ground not with rhizomes.   Yerba Buena usually grows in shade as an understory plant, usually associated with trees like oaks (Quercus), bays (Umbellularia californica) and madrones (Arbutus menziesii).
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It is hardy to zone 7. It is in flower from April to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist

Cultivation:
Prefers an open position in a well-drained soil. Succeeds in poor soils. Plants grow best and live longer when grown in an open sunny position and a dry sandy soil. A prostate plant, the stems forming roots at the leaf axils wherever they come into contact with the soil. The bruised leaves release a most refreshing lemony scent resembling verbena.

Propagation:
Seed – sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Basal cuttings in early summer. Harvest the shoots with plenty of underground stem when they are about 8 – 10cm above the ground. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer. Division of the rooted prostrate stems in the spring.

Edible Uses:
Edible Uses: Tea.

The dried leaves, steeped in boiling water, make a palatable mint-flavoured tea. The dried leafy spines are used according to other reports

Medicinal Uses
Anthelmintic; Aphrodisiac; Blood purifier; Digestive; Febrifuge; Kidney; Sedative; Tonic.

The whole plant is aphrodisiac, blood purifier, mildly digestive, febrifuge, sedative and tonic. An infusion can be used in the treatment of insomnia, colic, upset stomachs, kidney problems, colds and fevers. A decoction of the plant has been used to get rid of pinworms. The decoction has also been used as an aphrodisiac. A poultice of the warm leaves have been applied to the jaw, or the plant held in the mouth, as a treatment for toothache.

Other Uses
Essential.

The leaves have been placed in clothing as a perfume

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_buena
http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/satureja-douglasii
http://digedibles.com/database/plants.php?Micromeria+chamissonis
http://www.baynatives.com/plants/Satureja-douglasii/

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