Solomon’s Seal, False Solomon’s Seal

Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) and False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum racemosum) look alike at this stage - a positive ID will be possible later in the season when the two plants flower. The true Solomon’s Seal creates flowers and fruits all alongside the underside of the stem, whereas the “lookalike” produces flowers all clustered on the end of the stem. Thankfully, the two plants are similarly edible as asparagus-like shoots when they first emerge from the ground, and the rhizomes of each also have some properties in common: these herbs moistens the joints and connective tissue and are used after deep injury, bruising, or surgery.

Yellow Dock

Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus) is a common garden weed, insisting its rightful place as human food and medicine. The root is a gentle digestion-stimulating bitter and laxative - one of the most gentle laxatives in Western herbalism - as well as a high-iron nutritive, used to make anemia-correcting syrups. The young leaves are a sour and tasty addition to salads.

Sweet Woodruff

My favorite Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) recipe gives instructions for packing dried applies into a wooden box filled with this herb in autumn, and coming back in winter to harvest the apples, which will have taken on the scent of pineapples. That scent is due to the presence of coumarin in this Galium-family herb. Sweet Woodruff has been used traditionally to flavor wine and beer, imparting into them some sedative, stomachic and blood-thinning properties. In earlier times people looked to this herb as a first aid plant, though this use is now far more commonly bestowed onto other herbs.

Plantain

Ubiquitous plantain (Plantago major) is a major first aid plant. A picked leaf, chewed and spat onto an insect bite, can immediately soothe the itch or sting; pressed onto the skin, it can also draw out anything that’s been injected below the surface. This is also a tasty plant whose leaves can be added to fresh juices and salads. Drawing, calming, cooling plantain is indispensable for any cut, scratch, or burn. Its rattle-like stalk of seeds that arises later in the year reminds us of its history of use as snakebite remedy. The seeds themselves are a form of mucilage that have especially been used to treat urinary tract pain and inflammation. In Chinese medicine, plantain seed is called “che qian zi” and is categorized as an “herb that drains dampness,” also known as a diuretic.

Cinquefoil

Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex), literally “5-leaf,” is an ARFA (another Rose family astringent). The leaves can be decocted and used to calm inflamed joints and gums, and also for burns. Taken internally, it can help tense muscles (and people) unwind. Often plants that have parts of 5 have a history of magical uses. For example, cinquefoil’s association with relaxing physical tension has been interpreted metaphysically as well. Stories tell of cut sprigs of cinquefoil being ritually placed on top of documents that represent difficult and tense situations, such as divorce papers or a work contract, followed by a resolution of the situation the paperwork represents.

Ground Ivy

Some medicinal plants have such rich and varied histories that it’s hard to name something they haven’t been used for. Glechoma hederacea or ground ivy is one of these plants. It has been used for brewing beer, for treating congestion, cancer, inflammation, and parasites. One could use an infusion of ground ivy for digestive tract diseases just as easily as one could use it to treat eye inflammation or expectorate phlegm. It has a menthol-like smell when crushed.

Bee Balm / Wild Bergamot

A familiar mountain dweller in our area, bee balm or wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is recognizable at this time of year by the subtle violet coloring in its petioles and by its strong oregano-like scent when crushed. As its scent suggests, it shares compounds in common with oregano essential oil, such as thymol and carvacrol. This plant is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial and can be used for bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections. It’s also a tasty cultinary herb and tea, spicy and flavorful. Because the plan is both delicious and has a history of use in treating burns, it is a natural choice for the kitchen herb cabinet.

Wild Strawberry

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a woodland Rose family plant. And yes, it does make edible strawberries! The leaf is a mild astringent, and can be used for a tart and tasty diuretic tea that can also tighten mucous membranes, useful in cases of diarrhea. An infusion of the leaves can also be made into a skin-tightening serum or combined with the fruit to make a skin mask. The leaf and fruit are also a potent source of antioxidants and vitamins.

Japanese Barberry

This prickly shrub found on the edges of forests is now known as ‘invasive’ as the proportion of forest edge in our world grows over time - a fate shared by many other edge-dwellers. But Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) is has much to offer human society. The yellow root contains berberine, a chemical compound that has both antimicrobial and blood sugar regulation properties. Those with diabetes and prediabetes and anyone with a stubborn infection would be well advised to get to know this plant. The leaf contains a compound that when added to the root, prevents the development of antimicrobial resistance.

Mullein

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is another plant that can often be found just under the snow all winter long. Its root, collected between its first and second years, is used for connective tissue healing and support, with an affinity for the joints, and its delicate, mucilaginous yellow flowers are most commonly used in painful infections of the ear. Its large, furry leaves are used in tea form to moisten and soothe the respiratory tract, and for this purpose they are also sometimes smoked. Mullein is an ever-present medicine cabinet no matter what the season!