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Feverweed

Scientific Names


• Gerardia pedicularia L.
• Pedicularis palustris L.
• Figwort family

Common Names

American foxglove
Bushy gerardia
False foxglove
Fern-leaved false foxglove
Lousewort
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Parts Usually Used

The entire plant
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Feverweed is a sticky and hairy, annual or perennial plant; the numerous stems are 1-4 feet high and bear opposite, fern-like leaves, 1-3 inches long, which are pinnately lobed and deeply serrate. The large, yellow, bell-shaped flowers grow in loose terminal racemes in August and September, followed by 2-celled fruit capsules.
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Where Found

Grows in dry woods, pine ridges, mountains, and thickets from Maine to Florida and west to Ontario, Minnesota, and Missouri.
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Medicinal Properties

Antiseptic, diaphoretic, febrifuge, sedative
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Other herbs are called lousewort: Wood betony (Betonica officinalis); and (Pedicularis canadensis).
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Uses

A warm infusion is particularly effective in producing perspiration to reduce fevers and relieve inflammatory diseases. Helps wounds heal.
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Formulas or Dosages

Infusion: use 1 tsp. herb with 1 cup water. Take 1 cup per day.

Tincture: take 5-20 drops at a time.
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Bibliography

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

Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

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

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

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, 1984

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