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!

Dog’s Mercury

Scientific Names

Dog's Mercury

  • Mercurialis perennis L.

Common Names

  • Dog’s cole
  • Perennial mercury
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    Parts Usually Used

    The entire plant
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    Description of Plant(s) and Culture

    Dog’s mercury is a perennial plant; the round, furrowed, glabrous, branched stem bears opposite, dark green, ovate, serrate, hairy leaves. The flowers are light green and axillary, the male in spikes, the female solitary or in 2’s and 3’s. Flowering time is April and May.

    Another variety: Mercury herb (M. annua) is an annual species of mercury with a square stem and light green leaves. It is used like dog’s mercury and is similarly poisonous.
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    Where Found

    Grows in waste places in the eastern United States; naturalized from Europe, where it grows especially in shady mountain woods.
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    Medicinal Properties

    Emetic, purgative
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    Uses

    The fresh plant is sometimes used as a laxative. A homeopathic tincture is used for rheumatism and stomach problems.
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    Warning

    The fresh plant is poisonous, and the poison is believed to be cumulative in effect. Thorough drying or boiling seems to destroy the poisonous activity.

    Do not use without medical supervision.
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    Bibliography

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

    Buy It! Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

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