Quote:
Originally Posted by Kat2
How so? I'm a devoted Echinacea gal when I need a boost but otherwise not terribly involved in herbal/plant medicine. I do have a copy of Back to Eden purchased when I was young and experimenting. During my visits to a very neat herb shop in College Park, MD the lady who owned it, draped in black regardless of season, recommended it so I bit/bought. Smile Herb was sold; it's not the same. Book is not very good but it reminds me of my youth so I kept it.
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Back to Eden is one of the bibliographies I am using for my current book on medicinal plants.
Here is the entry from my book on Virginia Creeper:
Virginia Creeper (Vitus quinquefolia)
Common names: American Ivy, Woodbine, Five Leaf Ivy, False Grape, Wild Wood Vine.
Distribution: Throughout most of the eastern half of the United States. The plant is also native to northern Mexico and southeastern Canada from Nova Scotia to Ontario.
Habitat: New and old forests and forest margins. It can also be found on the borders of clearings, on trees, along fencerows and stream banks in partial shade to full sun.
Medicinal parts: Bark and twigs.
Solvent: Boiling water.
Remedies: Use as a tonic, astringent, expectorant and anti-intoxicant.
Traditional preparations: Used primarily as a syrup for tuberculosis in the lymph nodes and as a remedy for dropsy and bronchitis.
In 1939, herbalist JE Meyers said, “There is great antipathy between wine and ivy, and therefore it is a remedy to preserve against drunkenness and to relieve or cure intoxication by drinking a draught of wine in which a handful of bruised ivy leaves have been boiled.”
Dosage: 1 tsp. of the bark or twigs cut into granules in 1 cup of boiling water. Drink cold during the day, a large mouthful at a time. If using the decoction of syrup, 1-4 tablespoons three times a day.
Topical use: None