Saw Palmetto
Parts Usually Used
Berries
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Saw palmetto is a low, shrubby plant grows to 6 feet; the trunk or rootstock remains below the ground, producing palmate, green to white-coated leaves on saw-toothed petioles. Has horizontal creeping stems above ground. Leaves fanlike, with sword-shaped leaf blades radiating from a central point. Flowers are whitish green, with 3-5 petals; May to July. The olive-like, dark-purple to black fleshy berries, 1 inch long, surrounding one large seed, grow in bunches or clusters, ripening from October to December.
Where Found
Found growing in dense stands along the Atlantic coast in Georgia and Florida. Low pine woods, savannas, thickets. South Carolina, Georgia, Florida to Alabama, Mississippi.
Medicinal Properties
Antiseptic, cardiac, diuretic, expectorant, sedative, tonic
Biochemical Information
Essential oil, fatty oil, with capric, caprylic and lauric acids, fatty acids, carotene, tannin, sitosterol invert sugar, estrogenic substance.
Uses
Historically, herbalists utilized the berries for complaints related to colds, hay fever, asthma, and bronchitis. A tea prepared from the dried berries was traditionally employed for catarrhal conditions, mucous congestion, coughs, irritated throat membranes, migraines, and general convalescence. Practitioners also fashioned the powdered fruit into cocoa butter suppositories intended as a uterine and vaginal tonic, while folk traditions sometimes regarded the plant as an aphrodisiac or utilized it for cystitis.
In various traditional practices, saw palmetto, occasionally combined with echinacea, was recommended for prostate health, and European herbal traditions later saw its over-the-counter adoption for benign prostatic enlargement.
How Sold
Fruit extracts, capsules, tablets, tincture.
Warning
Any man experiencing pain or swelling of the prostate, or has difficulty urinating, or passes any blood in the urine, should be examined by a medical physician ASAP.
Bibliography
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. , Special Sale Catalog, 1996