American Spikenard
Parts Usually Used
Root
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
American spikenard is a perennial, herbaceous plant, 3-5 feet tall; its thick, fleshy rootstock features long, thick roots and produces one or more branched stems growing up to 6 feet high. Stems are smooth, dark green or reddish. The leaves are alternate and usually ternate, 6-21 toothed, pointed leaves, weakly heart-shaped, with doubly serrate margins. Its tiny, greenish-white flowers grow in panicled umbels during July and August.
The dark purple berries are pleasantly flavored and can be made into jelly. Other varieties: A. californica; A. nudicaulis; A. quinquefolia The Chinese have a plant they label spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi). A decoction of this plant is used for skin diseases and a bath to give fragrance to the body.
Where Found
Found in rich woodlands in eastern North America, as far south as Georgia and west to South Dakota and Missouri.
Medicinal Properties
Diuretic, expectorant, carminative, alterative, stimulant, diaphoretic
Biochemical Information
Essential oil, tannins, saponin, spogenins, diterpene acids
Uses
Historically, herbalists employed this plant for pulmonary complaints, digestive weakness, gynecological concerns, and as a blood purifier. Traditional accounts also record its administration for hay fever, diarrhea, colds, bronchitis, sore throats, fevers, rheumatic aches and pains, asthma, and coughs. Externally, practitioners applied it for skin afflictions and hemorrhoids. In Native American traditions, the pounded root was prepared as a poultice or dressing for wounds, boils, acne, rashes, swellings, bruises, inflammations, and chest pains.
Beyond medicinal contexts, it was traditionally used as a flavoring agent in liqueurs and cordials.
Bibliography
, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 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.
, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H.
Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , Special Sale Catalog, 1996 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. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023