American Sanicle
Parts Usually Used
Rootstock, leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
American sanicle is a perennial plant; the root is composed of many blackish strings or fibers. The fibrous rootstock produces a light-green, furrowed, hollow stem bearing a few sessile leaves or none at all. Most of the plant’s bluish-green, palmately lobed leaves are basal, growing on long petioles. Small umbels of white, greenish-white, or yellowish flowers bloom from May to July.
Prickled fruits sessile (without stalks); base of bristles bulbous. Other variety: European sanicle (S. europaea) also called wood sanicle; Canadian sanicle (S. canadensis).
Where Found
Found in rich woods, thickets, and shores from Newfoundland south to Georgia, and west to Alberta and Colorado. Shade loving plant.
Medicinal Properties
Astringent, expectorant, nervine, vulnerary, alterative, discutient, depurative
Uses
Historically, herbalists prepared this plant as a gargle for irritations and sores of the mouth and throat. Traditional practitioners also employed it for internal ulcers, kidney ailments, rheumatism, diarrhea, digestive complaints, fevers, colds, inflammations, swellings, wounds, scurvy, tetters, rashes, pain, hemorrhage, and excessive menstrual flow, as well as considering it a blood cleanser.
The powdered root was traditionally administered for fevers, while Native Americans historically applied a poultice of the root to snakebites.
Bibliography
, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 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) 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. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print) The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT.
06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. , 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