Shepherd’s Purse
Parts Usually Used
Aerial portions, can be used fresh or dried, except the roots.
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
A ubiquitous, small, annual plant; its erect, simple or branching stem grows from 6-18 inches high above a rosette of basal, gray-green, pinnatifid leaves, often deeply toothed and somewhat hairy, dandelion-like. The root is small, white, and perishes every year. It bears a few small, sessile, dentate leaves along its length; the leaves on the flower stalks have clasping bases.
The tiny white flowers grow in terminal, erect, cymes, each blossom has four white, spoon-shaped petals, in many places blooming all year. The fruit is a flattened, heart-shaped or triangular, notched pod, borne on long stalks. Flowers all summer. Taste is like cabbage; odor is unpleasant.
Where Found
Common in fields and waste places, backyards, fields, and along roadsides everywhere. A small but distinctive weed found throughout the United States and much of Canada. Introduced from Europe.
Medicinal Properties
Astringent, antiscorbutic, antiseptic, diuretic, stimulant, styptic, vasoconstrictor, vulnerary
Biochemical Information
Amino-alcohols: choline, acetylcholine, saponins, mustard oil, monoamines, amino-phenol and tyramine; also diosmin, a flavonoid, vitamins A, B, C.
Legends, Myths and Stories
Shepherd’s purse was given this common name because its seed pods resemble an old-fashioned leather purse. Nearly every wheat field is full of this herb. It grows over the entire United States. When chewed, the green grass has a very pleasant peppery taste. To collect the seed pods for a nutritious meal is unheard of today, but the body-building elements which our fathers of America knew by test and experience still remain.
They roasted the seeds and combined with other meal for pinole bread. From one plant 64,000 seeds are shed periodically in one season and can thrive on any soil. The leaves were used raw, or as pot herbs like spinach. Eaten as food by many of the poor people of China. It is both wild and cultivated there. This plant is still considered by most people to be a weed.
Uses
Historically, herbalists utilized extracts and infusions of shepherd’s purse primarily as a styptic to address internal and external bleeding, including nosebleeds, hemorrhoids, and profuse menstruation. Traditional practitioners also administered the plant for digestive and urinary complaints, such as stomach troubles, diarrhea, difficult urination, and bedwetting. In folk medicine, it was believed to regulate blood pressure and heart action, as well as to improve eyesight.
Externally, herbal preparations were applied as compresses for cuts, wounds, and head injuries, or used as a wash for bruises. Beyond its medicinal applications, the mustard-flavored leaves were traditionally gathered for culinary use as a salad green.
Warning
Seeds are known to cause blistering of skin. Avoid the herb in pregnancy, except during labor, because it stimulates uterine contractions. If there is a sudden change in menstrual flow or blood in urine, seek professional advice before attempting self-medication. This herb raises blood pressure. Avoid if Hypertensive.
Bibliography
The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. , Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 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) Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R.
, Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A.
, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 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. , West Nyack, NY, 1987. , 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 Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr.
David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. , 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992).