Medicinal Herb InfoA reference archive of plants and their traditions
Not medical advice. This site documents how plants have been described and used historically. It is a botanical and folklore reference, not guidance for treating illness, and it carries no dosing instructions. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before using any plant medicinally — herbs interact with medication and some are toxic.

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Hedge Mustard

Botanical reference entry

On this page

Parts Usually Used

The herb

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Hedge mustard is a common, much-hated, annual weed; grows 1-4 feet high, the purple-hued, branching stem bears light green, lyrately pinnatifid or pinnate leaves with dentate or coarsely toothed segments. The small, yellow flowers grow in terminal racemes from April to November. Beneath the flower clusters, linear or oblong seed pods develop, closely pressed to the axis in a long, slender raceme.

The seeds resemble those of mustard.

Where Found

Found in fields and waste places all over North America; except the extreme north. Also found in Europe.

Medicinal Properties

Diuretic, expectorant, stomachic

Uses

In European folk tradition, hedge mustard tea was popular for addressing colds, coughs, hoarseness, chest congestion, laryngitis, and bronchial catarrh.

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

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