Dittany
Parts Usually Used
Leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Dittany is a wiry-stemmed, branched perennial that grows about 1 to 2 feet in height. The leaves are oval, 1 inch long, toothed, oregano-scented. Small violet to white flowers, the throats are hairy with 2 stamens, bloom in clusters in July to October.
Where Found
Found in dry woods and thickets. Southeastern New York to Florida; Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois.
Medicinal Properties
Febrifuge, emmenagogue
Uses
Historically, folk practitioners prepared a tea from the leaves to address colds, fevers, and headaches. The plant was also employed as an insecticide and smoked as a nicotine-free alternative to tobacco. In veterinary folk traditions, it was administered to sheep believed to have been poisoned by common laurel (Kalmia latifolia).
Warning
Avoid during pregnancy until last weeks of term; uterine stimulant.
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) Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. , 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