Ragwort

Scientific Names

Ragwort

Senecio aureus L.
Compositae
Composite family

Common Names

Cocash weed

Coughweed

False valerian

Female regulator

Golden ragwort

Golden senecio

Grundy swallow

Life root

Liferoot plant

Ragweed

St. James wort

Segrum

Squaw weed

Staggerwort

Stammer-wort

Uncum

Uncum root

Waw Weed

Parts Usually Used

Leaves, roots

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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Ragwort is a native perennial plant; the erect, grooved, brown-streaked stem grows from 1-2 feet high and bears alternate, oblong or lanceolate, pinnatifid or lyrate leaves. There are also coarsely toothed basal leaves which are cordate-ovate or reniform, long-petioled and sometimes purplish underneath. Flower heads with golden-yellow rays in flat-topped clusters and brownish disks grow in terminal corymbs from May to July. Highly variable.

Other varieties: Common groundsel (S. vulgaris); European ragwort (S. jacoboea) The two related plants; common groundsel and European ragwort, have similar medicinal properties and are said to affect the liver (not necessarily favorably). Common groundsel is a widespread weed that can be found in gardens, fields, and waste places all over the world.

European ragwort is now a naturalized plant of eastern Canada, the northeastern United States and individual localities elsewhere. The medicinal use of these plants without medical supervision is not advisable.
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Where Found

Found in marshes, along stream-banks, swamps, and in other wet areas from Newfoundland to Florida and westward to Wisconsin and Texas.
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Medicinal Properties

Diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, pectoral, tonic
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Legends, Myths and Stories

In Sussex, England ragwort is called ragweed.
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Uses

Ragwort is used for leukorrhea or suppressed menstruation. Native Americans, early settlers, and herbalists used it to speed childbirth and to induce abortion. Recommended for gravel and other problems of the urinary tract. Useful for rheumatism, sciatica, joint pains, lung ailments, dysentery, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, lumbago, prostatitis, wounds, bronchial asthma, constipation, ulcers, colic, intestinal problems, blood purifier, high blood pressure, canker sores, chronic sores, coughs, and colds.
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Formulas or Dosages

Fluid extract: take 1/2 to 1 tsp. in a cup of water.
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Warning

Ragwort contains toxic alkaloids which are known to be poisonous to livestock.

Many ragworts of the Senecio species contain highly toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Care should be exercised to identify Senecio aureus before use and even then medical supervision is warranted. Senecio aureus is distinguished by the heart-shaped leaves at the base of the plant.
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Bibliography

American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973

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)

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

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

Contents:

Scientific Names