Dogbane
Parts Usually Used
Rootstock and dried rhizome. Not to be used without medical supervision.
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Designating a family of dictyledonous herbs, shrubs, and trees, including frangipani and periwinkle. Dogbane is a bushy, shrub-like, perennial, hairless plant with tough fibrous bark on the stems, exuding milky latex juice when broken. A large, horizontal, milky rootstock sends up a glabrous stem with tough, fibrous bark to a height of 1-4 feet. The leaves are opposite, roundish to oblong-ovate or ovate, dark green above, lighter and hairy beneath, and grow on short, reddish petioles.
The nodding bell-shaped, drooping, fragrant flowers grow in terminal cymes and are pink outside, pink and white striped inside or pink with red markings inside. Blooming time is May to August. The fruit is a pair of long, slender pods. All parts of the plant contain a milky juice. This plant, dogbane, differs from its close relative Indian Hemp (A. cannabinum) in that its leaves are mostly sessile (stalkless), and the flowers are both in leaf axils and terminal.
Another plant is also called bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) was commonly eaten by the Native Americans in Montana.
Where Found
Dogbane is a native perennial plant found in both the Atlantic and Pacific coastal states, in dry, sandy soils and around the edges of forests. Less commonly on roadsides and in fields. Newfoundland to Georgia and Arizona. Absent from Kansas and south of North Carolina highlands.
Medicinal Properties
Cathartic, diaphoretic, emetic, expectorant, laxative, stimulant, tonic
Legends, Myths and Stories
Dogbane is so named, they say, because it is said to be poisonous to dogs. In North America there are 60 species. No side effects have been found from the proper administration under medical guidance. Not recommended for use without medical direction.
Uses
Historically, herbalists used dogbane for dyspepsia, constipation, fever, gallstones, liver disorders, and dropsy. In traditional practices, it served as a diuretic, laxative, emetic, and sweating agent, and was sometimes administered for headaches accompanied by sluggish bowels. Practitioners noted its harsh cathartic qualities and frequently combined it with milder remedies. Native American traditions similarly utilized the root of dogbane for a wide variety of ailments.
Warning
Poisonous. Cymarin, a cardioactive glycoside, poisons cattle. Eating the leaves has killed the livestock. The milky sap has been used safely externally as a remedy. The plant has shown anti-tumor activity. Not recommended for use without medical direction.
Bibliography
, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992).
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