        |
|
Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations | Ayervedic Formulas | Chinese Formulas StorksbillContents:Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties
Scientific Names
Common Names
Parts Usually UsedThe leaves
Description of Plant(s) and CultureStorksbill is an annual plant, 3 to 12 inches high; the slender, fern-like, hairy, reddish, decumbent stem bears pinnate leaves which, like those of the basal rosette, have sessile, oblong or ovate-oblong leaflets which themselves are pinnatifid into narrow, often toothed lobes. The basal leaves survive through the winter. The purple or pink, geranium-like, 5 petaled, flowers, less than 1/2 inch long, bloom from early spring to late fall. The sepals are terminated by 1 or 2 white, bristle-like hairs which give the plant its name. Seeds are smooth, elongated, and sharp, like a stork’s bill. Another plant: The plant (Geranium maculatum) is called storksbill but has no relation to Erodium cicutarium. Where FoundNative to the Mediterranean region and widely naturalized in dry and sandy soils, waste places of the eastern, southwestern, and western United States, where it is often grown for hay.
Medicinal PropertiesAstringent, hemostatic
Legends, Myths and StoriesThe alum root (Geranium maculatum) is also called storksbill, among other common names.
UsesIt has been used primarily against bloody discharges from the uterus and to treat difficult or excessive menstruations. Small doses are said to raise blood pressure, and larger doses lower it. Seed poultice is used for gouty tophus. Leaves soaked in water are put in bath water for rheumatic patients.
Formulas or DosagesStorksbill will not keep long in storage. It is generally used in concentrated preparations.
Nutrient ContentNiacin, vitamin K
Bibliography
|
|
|
Alfilaria
Back to Eden
, by Jethro Kloss; Back to Eden Publishing Co., Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994
, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000Copyright © 1996-2010 Lynn DeVries, all rights reserved.