Boneset

Parts Usually Used

Aerial parts, usually dried leaves and flowering tops

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Boneset is an indigenous perennial plant 3-4 feet high; the rough, hairy stem grows to a height of 1-5 feet from a horizontal, crooked rootstock. The leaves are 4-8 inches long, rough, serrate, and taper to a long point. Leaves perfoliate (stem appears to be inserted through the middle of leaf pairs), wrinkled. Terminal corymbs of numerous, fuzzy, white or pale purple flower heads are borne in dense, flat-topped clusters terminating the stems, blossoms appear in August and September.

The fruit is a tufted achene. The plant has only a weak odor but a very bitter taste. ) also called the coffee plant, of the honeysuckle family.

Where Found

Found in swampy areas, moist meadows, low-lying damp ground, wet woods, and along stream banks in eastern North America. From Nova Scotia and Quebec to Florida, and west to Minnesota and Louisiana.

Medicinal Properties

Laxative, antispasmodic, expectorant, vasoconstrictor, cholagogue, cathartic, emetic, febrifuge, tonic, aperient, diaphoretic, diuretic, nervine, carminative, stimulant

Biochemical Information

Euparin, which is yellow and crystalline (C 12, H 11, O 3), eupurpurin is an oleoresin that is precipitated from an alcoholic tincture of this herb.

Legends, Myths and Stories

Boneset was one of early America’s foremost medical plants, a popular panacea of extraordinary powers. Native Americans introduced the settlers to this New World herb. Its name reflects its use during a particularly harsh strain of flu called “break bone fever”. Come cold and flu season, boneset can be invaluable in relieving coughs and upper respiratory congestion. Today, it is chiefly regarded as a weed with an interesting past.

First used by the Native Americans, who passed along their high esteem for the plant to the settlers. The botanical name, Eupatorium, was selected to connote Mithridates Eupator, a king of Ponus about 115 BC, who supposedly discovered an antidote to poison among the species of this particular genus. When taken captive by his enemies, he preferred death to captivity, but had to have a slave stab him, for he had so thoroughly fortified himself against poisoning.

The genus includes some 400 species, quite a number of which are reputed to have medicinal virtues. Boneset and Joe-pye weed are among the latter species. Boneset was never used as an antidote to poison. Boneset was a popular bitter of early Americans. The infusion is taken cold; the hot tea induces sweating.

Uses

Boneset served as a common domestic remedy in nineteenth-century America, where it was extensively utilized by Native Americans and early European settlers. Historical accounts note that herbalists administered the plant during nineteenth- and early twentieth-century influenza epidemics. Practitioners traditionally varied the preparation temperature to achieve different purported effects: cold infusions were employed as tonics and mild laxatives, while warm or hot preparations were administered to induce sweating, vomiting, or purging.

Folk traditions relied on boneset for colds, coughs, sore throats, stuffy noses, and various fevers, including intermittent fever and ague. Nineteenth-century sources also recorded its use for rheumatism, gout, spasms, muscle cramps, headaches, fluid retention, jaundice, dyspepsia, and certain urinary complaints, as well as applying the leaves externally to wounds.

Bibliography

The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R.

, Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 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) 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.

, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Old Ways Rediscovered , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988 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. , 1974 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992). Categories Anti-Aging Ayerveda Chinese Medicine Gardening Healing Herbs In the News Medicinal Herbs Medicinal Uses Natural Health Uncategorized