Shinleaf

Parts Usually Used

Leaves

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Shinleaf is a perennial, evergreen herb, 5-10 inches high; a slender, branching rootstock produces a set of basal, dark green, ovate to elliptical leaves with margined petioles and shallow-toothed edges. The naked flower stalk bears from 7-15 white, waxy, drooping, greenish-white flowers, which smell like lily-of-the-valley and bloom from June to August.

Where Found

Grows in dry to rich woods in Canada and in the northern and Rocky Mountain states of the United States. Maryland, West Virginia; Nebraska and across Canada to Alaska.

Medicinal Properties

Astringent

Legends, Myths and Stories

Webster’s Dictionary claims this herb belongs to the Heath family; some references claim it for the Wintergreen family, who knows.

Uses

Historical herbalists valued this plant for its mild astringent properties, employing it as a mouthwash, gargle, and douche. Traditional practitioners applied the leaves as a poultice for insect bites, bruises, sores, cuts, and other skin ailments. Native American traditions included gargling a tea made from the leaves for sore throats and canker sores, using poulticed leaves on wounds, and preparing a tea from the roots as a general tonic.

Bibliography

American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 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. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 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