Audrey’s Garden

ARTEMISIA – SILVER KING (WHITE SAGE)

Artemisia ludviciana

Plant symbol = ARLU

Burning white sage and “smudge sticks” (the process of harvesting sage stems and tying the stem together into a “smudge stick”), was and is used for cleansing and purification. White sage or “man sage” was perhaps the most important ceremonial plant of the Cheyenne. The sage was spread along the borders and on the altar in almost every ceremonial lodge (including the stone peoples lodge or sweat lodge) with the flowering end toward the fire. The leaves were burned as an incense to cleanse and drive away bad spirits, evil influences, bad dreams, bad thoughts, and sickness. The smoke was used to purify people, spaces, implements, utensils, horses, and rifles in various ceremonies. The Lakota also make bracelets for the Sun Dance from white sage. The Cheyenne use the white sage in their Sun Dance and Standing Against Thunder ceremonies. The Dakota and other tribes used white sage tea for stomach troubles and many other ailments. The Cheyenne used the crushed leaves as snuff for sinus attacks, nosebleeds, and headaches. The Crow made a salve for use on sores by mixing white sage with neck-muscle fat (probably from buffalo). They used a strong tea as an astringent for eczema and as a deodorant and an antiperspirant for underarms and feet. The Kiowa made a bitter drink from white sage, which they used to reduce phlegm and to relieve a variety of lung and stomach complaints.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_arlu.pdf

SMOOTH BLUE ASTER

Symphyotrichum laeve (L.)

Plant symbol = SYLAL3

Root tea was used for diarrhea and fever. Asters in general were used for wounds, either burned and placed over a wound or powdered and placed in the wound. A tea of the whole plant was used for arrow wounds; cotton or other absorbent material was dipped into the tea and pushed into the wound.

https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_sylal3.pdf

WILD BERGAMOT

Monarda fistulosa

Plant symbol = MOFI

The Tewa cooked wild bergamot with meat. The Iroquois used the plant in the making of a beverage. The plant has a wide variety of medicinal uses. The Ojibwa put a wad of chewed leaves of this plant into their nostrils to relieve headache. The tops of the plant were dried and used as a sternutatory for the relief of colds. The leaves were placed in warm water baths for babies. The Flambeau Ojibwa gathered and dried the whole plant, boiling it in a vessel to obtain the volatile oil to inhale to cure catarrh and bronchial affections. The Menominee also used this plant as a remedy for catarrh, steeping the leaves and inflorescences in a tea. The Meskwaki used this plant in combination with other plants to relieve colds. The Hocak (Winnebago) used wild bergamot in their sweat bath and inhaled the fumes to cure colds. The Cherokee made a warm poultice of the plant to relieve a headache. The Lakota boiled together the leaves and flowers as a cure for abdominal pains. The Blackfoot made a tea from the blossoms and leaves to cure stomach pains. They also applied boiled leaves to the pustules of acne. The Tewa dried the plant and ground it into a powder that was rubbed over the head to cure headaches, over the body to cure fever, and as a remedy for sore eyes and colds

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_mofi.pdf

BLACK EYED SUSAN

Rudbeckia hirta

Plant symbol = RUHI2

Native Americans made an infusion from the roots to treat children with worms. A yellow dye was made from the flower petals.

https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/RUHI2

BLANKETFLOWER

Gaillardia aristata

Plant symbol = GAAR

Native American tribes long recognized the medicinal qualities of blanketflower and used it to treat many ailments. The Blackfeet used infusions of roots and leaves to relieve upset stomachs and to treat saddle sores on horses. Kiowas picked the flowers for good luck. Blanketflower was one of the voucher specimens collected by Captain Meriwether Lewis along the Blackfoot River on July 7, 1806. Cancer studies on major plant groups determined blanketflower contained a tumor-killing compound. There is also evidence blanketflower contains substances with antibacterial properties.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_gaar.pdf

BLUE VERVAIN

Verbena hastate

Plant symbol = VEHA2

The seeds are edible when roasted and ground into a flour. The leaves and roots were used to treat a variety of ailments. Among its other uses were expectorant, nerve tonic and emetic.

https://indiananativeplants.org/images/resources/Gordon%20Mitchell%20Articles/GM_blue_vervain.pdf

CEDAR

Juniperus virginiana l

Plant symbol = JUVI

Cedar is one of the four sacred plants of Native Americans of the Plains and elsewhere. It was, and is still used, in ceremonies and prayer. In addition, the Blackfeet made a tea from the berries of the red cedar to stop vomiting and as a remedy for arthritis and rheumatism. The Cheyenne steeped the leaves of the red cedar and drank the resulting tea to relieve persistent coughing or a tickling in the throat. It was also believed to produce sedative effects that were especially useful for calming a hyperactive person. Cheyenne women drank the red cedar tea to speed delivery during childbirth. The Cheyenne, along with the Flathead, Nez Perce, Kutenai, and Lakota, made a tea from red cedar boughs, branches, and fleshy

cones, which they drank for colds, fevers, tonsillitis, and pneumonia. Flutes made from red cedar wood were highly regarded by the Cheyenne. Cedar boughs were used for bedding. The Menomini wove mats of cedar bark. The mats were used for roofing temporary structures, for partitions, floor mats and wrappings, and for various purposes in the canoes.

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/juniperus/virginiana.htm

CHOKECHERRY

Prunus virginiana 'Goertz'

Plant symbol = PRVI

Native American tribes used black chokecherry for many medicinal uses such as for canker sores, sore throats, sore eyes, and diarrhea. The bark of the plant was used to treat diarrhea as well. Roots from chokecherry were dried, chewed, and placed in wounds to prevent further bleeding. The stems were boiled to make a strong tea to treat high fevers. For many Native American tribes of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and boreal forest region of Canada and the United States, chokecherries were the most important fruit in their diets. The inner bark of the chokecherry, as well as red osier dogwood, or alder, was also used by Native Americans in their smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_prvi.pdf

COMPASS PLANT

Silphium lanceolata

Plant symbol = SILA3

The pounded root of compass plant was used by the Pawnees to make a tea for “general debility.” This tea was also used by the Santee Dakotas to rid horses of worms and by the Omahas and Poncas as a horse tonic (Kindscher, 1992). The children of several tribes used the resinous sap as a chewing gum to cleanse their teeth and sweeten their breath.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_sila.pdf

DOGWOOD

Cornus sericea 'Variegata'

Plant symbol = COSE16

Native Americans smoke the inner bark of red osier dogwood in tobacco mixtures used in the sacred pipe ceremony. Dream catchers, originating with the Potawatomi, are made with the stems of the sacred red osier dogwood. Some tribes ate the white, sour berries, while others used the branches for arrow-making, stakes, or other tools. In California, peeled twigs were used as toothbrushes for their whitening effect on teeth. Bows and arrows were made from Cornus shoots. The inner bark is used for tanning or drying animal hides.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_cose16.pdf

EASTERN PURPLE CONEFLOWER

Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench.

Plant symbol = ECPU

Purple coneflower was and still is a widely used medicinal plant of the Plains Tribes. It was used as a painkiller and for a variety of ailments, including toothaches, coughs, colds, sore throats and snake bite.

The Choctaw use purple coneflower as a cough medicine and gastro-intestinal aid. The Delaware used an infusion of coneflower root for gonorrhea and found it to be highly effective.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_ecpu.pdf

MEADOW GARLIC

Allium canadense

Plant symbol = ALCAC

Also known as the meadow garlic, the plant was collected and used as a food source. The bulbs and leaves were eaten raw or fried with grease and greens. Tea was made from the bulbs to control coughing, vomiting, colds, scurvy, ‘dropsy’, asthma, to remove deafness, as a stimulant, diuretic, flatulence reliever, expectorant and mild cathartic. An extract was used on children to prevent worms, treat colic, on bee or wasp stings and as a cough remedy. Wild garlic was rubbed on the body to protect it from lizard, scorpion, tarantula and snakebites, as well as insect bites and stings.

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ALCAC

GENTIA

Gentiana andrewsii

Plant symbol = GENTIA

Used to treat fever, stomach ailments and constipation. Also used as an eyewash and analgesic.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/gentiana_andrewsii.shtml

HIGH BUSH CRANBERRY

Viburnum opulus L. var.

Plant symbol = VIOPA2

The bark of high bush cranberry yields a powerful antispasmodic (thus the origin of one its American common names, cramp bark). The water-soluble preparation (containing a bitter compound called viburnine) has been used for relief of menstrual and stomach cramps and asthma. The antispasmodic properties apparently were discovered independently by European, Native American, and Asian peoples. The fruit was a food source.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_viopa2.pdf

WILD GERANIUM

Geranium maculatum

Plant Symbol = GEMA

Extracts of wild geranium have been used medicinally by Native Americans to treat diarrhea and various mouth ailments. Powdered preparations were used to treat open sores or wounds. The rhizome contains tannic and gallic acids, which contribute to its astringent quality. Clinical trials have shown that tannins promote blood clotting, supporting its use for bleeding sores or wounds. The Mesquakie brewed a root tea for toothache and for painful nerves and mashed the roots for treating hemorrhoids.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/germac/all.html

GOLDENROD

Solidago speciosa Nutt.

Plant symbol = SOSP2

Native Americans used goldenrod to treat wounds, colds, rheumatism; as a hair wash to make hair grow; and flowers made into a salve to treat bee stings.

https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_SOSP2.pdf

PRAIRIE IRONWEED

Vernonia fasciculata Michx.

Plant symbol: VEFA2

Traditionally, the Cherokee used the roots of this plant to make a tonic that promotes blood health. Its roots also have also been used to relieve abdomen aches and regulate menses.

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=vefa2

JUNE GRASS

Koeleria macrantha

Plant symbol = KOMA

The seeds of the prairie June grass were used by Native Americans used to make flour for bread and mush. They also fashioned paint brushes and brooms from the leaves to sweep out lodges. The Cheyenne regarded this as a highly significant plant whose flowering culms were used in the Sun Dance to give the dancers strength. The grass also served as a brush to apply paint to the dancers, and it was applied in a medicinal mixture to treat cuts and abrasions.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_koma.pdf

LEADPLANT

Amorpha canescens Pursh

Plant symbol = AMCA6

Native American tribes used leadplant in many ways. Most made a tea from the leaves, sometimes as a medicine to treat ailments such as pinworms, eczema, rheumatism, Neuralgia, open wounds and cuts. Some tribes made a substance to smoke from leadplant leaves and buffalo fat. Some believed that it could be used to make a “medicine” to attract buffalo to the person that had it on their clothing. Some tribes named the plant “buffalo bellows” because the timing of flowering coincided with the time of the year that the buffalo were in rut and bellowing.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_amca6.pdf

LOCOWEED

Oxytropis lambertii

Plant symbol = OXLA3

Native Americans may have used this toxic plant for conditions related to the nervous system. It was also used to treat constipation.

WILD MINT

Mentha arvensis L.

Plant symbol: MEAR4

Many North American tribes used the leaves to make tea or beverages, to spice pemmican and soups, and to add flavor to certain meats in cooking. Plant parts were packed in alternate layers with dried meat for storage.

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=mear4

PASQUEFLOWER

Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill.

Plant symbol = PUPA5

Native Americans used small amounts for various ailments and conditions: dried leaves (most likely a tea) for rheumatism, a poultice of pressed dried leaves as a topical treatment, an aroma-therapy bouquet of freshly dried ground leaves to alleviate headaches, and pulverized roots were used to combat lung disorders.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/pulsatilla_patens_multifida.shtml

PENSTEMON

Penstemon grandifloras Nutt.

Plant symbol = PEGR7

Native Americans treated toothaches by chewing the root pulp of this plant and others in this genus. The Navajo applied a wet dressing of pounded leaves of large beardtongue to rattlesnake bites.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_pegr7.pdf

PRAIRIE CONEFLOWER

Ratibida columnifera

Plant symbol = RACO3

Native peoples utilized a decoction of leaves and stems to treat pain, poison ivy rash and rattlesnake bites. An infusion was made from plant tops to treat headache, stomachache, cough, fever, epileptic fits and to induce vomiting. A medicinal or beverage-type tea was made from the ripened flower heads and leaves. An orange-yellow dye was produced from boiled flowers.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_raco3.pdf

PRAIRIE PHLOX

Phlox andicola E.E. Nelson ssp. Andicola

Plant symbol = PHANA

Prairie phlox was used to treat boils and stomach problems, also an eyewash was made from the distilled roots. Some Native Americans used it as a wash to treat eczema.

https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/PHANA

PRAIRIE ROSE

Rosa arkansana Porter

Plant symbol = ROAR3

The Navajo and Lakota Tribes had many uses for prairie rose. Boiled roots were used for colds, fevers, diarrhea, influenza, and stomach and liver disorders. Tea made from petals was purportedly used as a heart tonic, to stop mouth bleeds and to treat sore throats and tonsillitis. Rose hip tea was prescribed as a remedy for tuberculosis. Prairie rose hips and/or roots were steeped in water and used to treat eye inflammation. Crushed roots were made into hot compresses to treat swelling. Plains Native Americans used prairie rose as a source of food.

https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ROAR3

PRAIRIE SAGEWORT

Artemisia frigida

Plant symbol = ARFR4

Artemisia frigida was used in the following ways: The Ojibwe used it as an anti-convulsive, a cure for “fits,” burned leaves to disinfect a contagious patient, inhaled a moxa for biliousness, put it on wounds to stop bleeding, made a decoction of the roots for a stimulant or tonic, and placed fresh leaves in nostrils and mouth as protection when “working with the dead.” Native Americans on the upper Plains used a decoction as a remedy for lung troubles. The Navaho-Ramah used a decoction of leaves to alleviate coughing, made a hot poultice of leaves for toothaches, and used the root for “life medicine.” The Potawatomi placed leaves and flowers on live coals to revive comatose patients. The Shuswap burned the plant to keep away mosquitoes. The Tewa chewed leaves for indigestion or flatulence. The Zuni used an infusion of the whole plant as a cold remedy.

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_arfr4.pdf

PRAIRIE SMOKE

Geum triflorum

Plant Symbol = GETRT

Native Americans once boiled the roots to produce a root tea that was used medicinally for a variety of purposes such as wound applications and sore throat treatments. Some Plateau Native American Tribes used it to treat tuberculosis.

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/prairie-smoke-geum-triflorum/

RATTLESNAKE MASTER

Eryngium yuccifolium Michx.

Plant symbol = ERYU

Native Americans used the plant for medicinal purposes and a source of fiber for woven materials. The Cherokee prepared a decoction to prevent whooping cough and soaked the leaves to make an infusion to treat toothaches. The Creek treated nerve pain and kidney troubles with a root infusion. The Natchez used a parched leaf infusion to treat dysentery, and nosebleeds were treated by chewing stem and leaves.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_eryu.pdf

SCARLET GLOBEMALLOW

Sphaeralcea coccinea

Plant symbol = SPCO

The red false meadow was described by Meriwether Lewis. The whole plant was employed to relieve a myriad of ailments, as well as to make a sweet tea with which to take medicine with. The Northern Cheyenne and Dakota tribes used the plant in their ceremonies. By first rubbing their hands with the plant, they were able to remove meat from boiling water without scalding their fingers. The Dakota and Blackfoot Indians used a paste made from scarlet globemallow as a cooling agent for burns, scalds, and sores.

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/plantmaterials/idpmcpg8445.pdf

COMMON SUNFLOWER

Helianthus annuus L.

Plant symbol = HEAN3

The common sunflower was historically used by the Native population as a nutritious food source, a medicinal treatment for many ailments, and as a dye for body paint and coloring basketry. Native Americans boiled and ate flower buds and raw seeds. Drinking an infusion of the plant alleviated rheumatism, soothed chest pain and stimulated appetite. Purple, black and yellow dyes were made by boiling different parts of the plant.

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_hean3.pdf

WOOD LILLY

Lillium philadelphicum

Plant Symbol = LIPH

Native Americans cooked wood lilly bulbs in soups. Flowers were ground and applied to spider bites to relieve pain and swelling. Roots were used to treat coughs, fever and sores.

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LIPH