Balmony

Scientific Names

• Chelone glabra L.
• Scrophulariaceae
• Figwort family

Common Names

• Bitter herb
• Fishmouth
• Turtlebloom
• Turtlehead
• Salt-rheum weed
• Shell flower
• Snakehead

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Parts Usually Used

Leaves
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Balmony is an herbaceous perennial plant; its simple, erect, square stem reaches 1-3 feet high. Opposite, short-petioled, shiny leaves are dark green, pointed, are serrate and oblong-lanceolate in shape. Bloom from July to September, the white flowers are often tinged with pink or magenta, grow in dense clusters, terminal or axillary spikes. The two-lipped corolla of the flower somewhat resembles a turtle’s head, upper lip arching. The fruit is an ovoid capsule.
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Where Found

Found in wet ground from Newfoundland to Florida and westward to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas.
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Medicinal Properties

Anthelmintic, antibilious, aperient, cholagogue, stimulant, tonic
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Uses

Good for weak stomachs and indigestion, general debility, constipation, and torpid (sluggish) liver. It stimulates appetite, fever, jaundice, expels worms, and in small doses is a good tonic during convalescence. Externally, it is used for sores, painful ulcers, herpes,inflamed breasts, and eczema. The ointment relieves itching and irritation of piles.
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Formulas or Dosages

This herb may be difficult to obtain.

Infusion: use 1 tsp. leaves to 1 cup water. Take 1-2 cups a day.

Tincture: take 10-20 drops in water, 3-4 times a day.
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Bibliography

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

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

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

The Herbalist Almanac, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994

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

The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

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

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