The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Sundew

Scientific Names

Sundew

  • Drosera rotundifolia L.
  • Droseraceae
  • Sundew family

Common Names

  • Dew plant
  • Flytrap
  • Lustwort
  • Round leaf
  • Round-leaf sundew
  • Youthwort

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Parts Usually Used

The whole plant
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Sundew is an insectivorous (insect eating) perennial plant; the root produces a basal rosette of nearly round, reddish, glandular-hairy, tiny, leaves 1/2 inch across, mostly wider than long, which exude a liquid (dewdrops) that traps insects. The leaves fold over the captured insect and digest it. Naked flower stalks, from 2-12 inches high, are topped by one-sided racemes of small, white or pinkish (sometimes red) flowers which bloom from June to August. Blossoms open one at a time.
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Where Found

Grows in wet, acid, and moist places in North America, Europe, and Asia. In the United States, sundew is found in the eastern states, in the Rockies, and in the Sierra Nevada range. Also, Newfoundland to Florida; Illinois, Minnesota.
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Medicinal Properties

Antispasmodic, expectorant, demulcent, stimulant
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Biochemical Information

Proteolytic enzymes, naphthoquinone derivatives, plumbagin and hydroplumbagin, flavonoids, organic acids and traces of essential oil.
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Sundew is a carnivorous plant with ninety species of the Drosera genus throughout the world. Digestive juices, analogous to pepsin, are excreted, and the insect is dissolved and absorbed.

Sundew is the smallest of the insect eating plants, it is about the size of a silver dollar. The Venus fly trap is of this family; its leaves are two-hinged blades, with sensitive hairs, that close when touched, thus entrapping the insect.
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Uses

Effective remedy for respiratory ailments and chest problems, including coughs, asthma, whooping cough, catarrh, arteriosclerosis, and bronchitis. It is taken to help counteract nausea and upset stomach. The plant contains an antibiotic substance that, in pure form, is effective against Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Pneumococcus. In European folk medicine, the fresh juice is used for warts and corns, and is taken internally as an aphrodisiac. Also, used to help curdle milk.

Homeopathically: Epilepsy, hemorrhage, headache, laryngitis, nausea, measles, sciatica.

Folk medicine: used for diphtheria, plague, and nerve maladjustments and a “cure for old age”.
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Formulas or Dosages

Only 1 tsp. of the dried herb steeped in a pint of boiling water. Throughout the day a total of up to 1 to 2 cups are taken in small mouthful doses. It is best sweetened with honey

Tincture: a dose is 3-6 drops.

Fresh juice: use a drop at a time on warts or corns.
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Nutrient Content

Vitamin C
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Warning

Sundew contains irritant substances and should be used in small quantities only. External applications may cause blisters on the skin. Use under medical supervision.
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Bibliography

Buy It! Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss; Back to Eden Publishing Co., Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994

Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Buy It! The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

Buy It! Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988

Buy It! Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

Buy It! The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

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