Contents:
Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Nutrient Content | How Sold | Warning | Bibliography
Scientific Names
- Equisetum arvense L.
- Equisetaceae
Common Names
- Bottlebrush
- Joint grass
- Mu-zei (Chinese name)
- Pewterwort
- Shave grass
- Silica
- Scouring rush
Parts Usually Used
Sterile stems, best used fresh but can be dried.
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture
A perennial plant with creeping underground stems. From these in summer grow jointed, grooved, sterile stems with whorls of jointed branches. At each joint there is a toothed sheath with black tips on the teeth. Brown jointed fertile stems appear before the sterile stems: they bear terminal cones. Spring up in April and catkins bloom in July, seeds in August, perishes down to the ground in fall.
Some varieties of Equisetum are poisonous. Care should be taken to identify if collecting in the wild. Not a very pretty plant.
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Where Found
Fond in damp places, in fields and meadows, woods, on roadsides; it can be a persistent weed. Throughout North America.
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Medicinal Properties
Diuretic, astringent, hemostatic, alterative, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, styptic
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Biochemical Information
Aconitic acid, calcium, copper, equisitine, fatty acids, fluorine, nicotine, PABA, silica, sodium, starch, vitamin B5 and zinc.
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Legends, Myths and Stories
According to one reference, some 200 million years ago the horsetail grass was a family of tree size plants, growing with gigantic clubmosses and ferns in a strange world of steaming bogs, swamps and shallow lakes. The plants in this period of time were huge but short lived. Today it is an insignificant dwarf among flowering vegetation of an entirely different plant world.
In Europe horsetail grass is known as Pewterwort because of its use for polishing pewter utensils, other metals, wood utensils, cabinets, etc.
The Native Americans used horsetail grass to polish their arrow shafts.
Used today in many herbal beauty products for skin, nails, and hair.
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Uses
Used as a diuretic and in the treatment of edema, nephritis, gall stones, and kidney stones. Strengthens hair (good for split ends), nails, bone, teeth, promotes healthy skin, stops bleeding, and increases calcium absorption. Used in the treatment of cystitis, intestinal disorders, rheumatism, arthritis, coughs, broken bones, internal and external ulcers, even gangrenous ulcers, gonorrhea, syphilis, menorrhagia, diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoidal hemorrhage, eyewash for eye inflammation and conjunctivitis, ear infections, swollen glands, dropsy, bedwetting, nosebleeds, heavy menstruation, prostate disorders, tuberculosis, and gout. Promotes healing of broken bones and connective tissue.
Use as a poultice or wash to help stop bleeding and to accelerate healing of wounds and as a gargle.
In the bath, horsetail will soothe pain and, as a lotion, will prompt the rapid healing of sores, old running ulcers, itches and rashes, shingles, helps get rid of white spots from nails, controls excess oil on skin, good conditioner for nails and hair, helps strengthen bones, helps in absorption of calcium. Added to a bowl of boiling water, its vapors will help clear stuffy nose, fever, flu, and chest congestion. An essential oil rubbed nightly on weak, brittle fingernails will improve their condition.
Native Americans used the dried and burned plant (the ashes) on sore mouths.
This rough plant can be used as a pot and pan scrubber.
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Formulas or Dosages
Horsetail can be dried and cut. About 1 1/2 oz. can be boiled in 1 gallon of water for 15-20 minutes. Cool and strain.
Juice: take 10 drops twice a day.
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Nutrient Content
Calcium, vitamin B5 and zinc; iron, potassium and rich in minerals.
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How Sold
Capsules: take 1, up to 3 times daily.
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Warning
Horsetail is toxic if taken in large doses.
Some varieties of Equisetum are poisonous. Care should be taken to identify if collecting in the wild.
Seek professional care if there is blood in the urine or for sudden changes in menstrual flow leading to heavy bleeding.
Horsetail is banned in Canada, except in products where thiaminase-like compounds present in the herb are removed.
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Bibliography
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants
Indian Uses of Native Plants
Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible
The Herbalist Almanac
Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs
The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition
The Magic of Herbs
Planetary Herbology
The Complete Medicinal Herbal
Indian Herbalogy of North America
American Folk Medicine
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements
Webster’s New World Dictionary
An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants
The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine
A Useful Guide to Herbal Health Care
The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book)
