Ragwort
Parts Usually Used
Leaves, roots
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Ragwort is a native perennial plant; the erect, grooved, brown-streaked stem grows from 1-2 feet high and bears alternate, oblong or lanceolate, pinnatifid or lyrate leaves. There are also coarsely toothed basal leaves which are cordate-ovate or reniform, long-petioled and sometimes purplish underneath. Flower heads with golden-yellow rays in flat-topped clusters and brownish disks grow in terminal corymbs from May to July.
Highly variable. Other varieties: Common groundsel (S. vulgaris); European ragwort (S. jacoboea) The two related plants; common groundsel and European ragwort, have similar medicinal properties and are said to affect the liver (not necessarily favorably). Common groundsel is a widespread weed that can be found in gardens, fields, and waste places all over the world. European ragwort is now a naturalized plant of eastern Canada, the northeastern United States and individual localities elsewhere.
The medicinal use of these plants without medical supervision is not advisable.
Where Found
Found in marshes, along stream-banks, swamps, and in other wet areas from Newfoundland to Florida and westward to Wisconsin and Texas.
Medicinal Properties
Diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, pectoral, tonic
Legends, Myths and Stories
In Sussex, England ragwort is called ragweed.
Uses
Historical herbalists recommended ragwort for menstrual complaints, including suppressed menstruation and dysmenorrhea, as well as for leukorrhea. Early practitioners also utilized the plant for urinary tract complaints, such as gravel, and for prostatitis. Traditional accounts record its application for joint and muscular pains, including rheumatism, sciatica, and lumbago, as well as for wounds, ulcers, canker sores, and chronic skin sores.
Folk traditions further employed ragwort for respiratory issues such as coughs, colds, lung ailments, and bronchial asthma, alongside digestive disturbances including dysentery, diarrhea, constipation, colic, and other intestinal problems. Additionally, herbalists historically administered it as a blood purifier and for complaints related to high blood pressure.
Warning
Ragwort contains toxic alkaloids which are known to be poisonous to livestock. Many ragworts of the Senecio species contain highly toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Care should be exercised to identify Senecio aureus before use and even then medical supervision is warranted. Senecio aureus is distinguished by the heart-shaped leaves at the base of the plant.
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. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023