Medicinal Plants of Southwest Virginia

'Caution: This article is intended to identify plants used for medicinal purposes by our pioneer ancestors in Southwest Virginia. Some of these materials have become popular today as "herbal medicines", but their therapeutic value is not endorsed for any purpose in these articles. Indeed, the use of some of these materials is known to have significant adverse health effects.

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Our pioneer ancestors were pretty much on their own when it came to medical care. In the absence of doctors herbal medicines and folk remedies served their needs. This use can often be seen in the very names of some of these plants, such as "pleurisy root", "toothache tree", and "Beth's Root" (aka birth root"). Even today there are proponents of folk medicines who suggest the use of various plants to cure "what ails you". Not surprisingly, there's often some basis for such claims:

The leaves and bark of the willow tree have been mentioned in ancient texts from Assyria, Sumer and Egypt as a remedy for aches and fever, and the Greek physician Hippocrates wrote about its medicinal properties in the 5th century BC. Native Americans across the American continent relied on it as a staple of their medical treatments. This is because they contain acetylsalicylic acid, also known as aspirin. From The Wikipedia

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Medicines from foxgloves are called "Digitalin". The use of Digitalis purpurea extract containing cardiac glycosides for the treatment of heart conditions was first described by William Withering, in 1785, which is considered the beginning of modern therapeutics (Silverman)[1][2] It is used to increase cardiac contractility (it is a positive inotrope) and as an antiarrhythmic agent to control the heart rate, particularly in the irregular (and often fast) atrial fibrillation. It is therefore often prescribed for patients in atrial fibrillation, especially if they have been diagnosed with heart failure. Wikipedia

A list of plants used as medicines developed by Harding seems as good as any to give an idea of the range of plants that have been used for medical purposes, and can be found at: MySource:Harding, 1908. To be sure, the therapeutic benefits of some of the plants on Hardings list (e.g., watermelon) are not obvious, and some seem to be downright dangerous (e.g, Jimson weed). It is not our purpose here to develope a pharmacopia of herbal medicines. Such can be found elsewhere (The Wikipedia is a good starting place), but in some cases there are reasons to look more closely at individual plants, either because they became economically important in Southwest Virginia, or because historical documentaiton exists to show their therapeutic use. We will also include here other folk remedies (such as the use of "bear grease" for snakebites), as documentation comes to hand to support them.

Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa): Used to treat menopausal symptoms.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis): Native Americans and early settlers used bloodroot to treat snakebite, coughs and as a medicine for sick mules.

Links

Illicit Trade in native plants in the Great Smoky Mountains

Ginseng, Black Cohosh, Goldenseal]