Jamestown
weed, Datura spp.
Jasmine, Jasminum
officinale
Java tea, Orthosiphon spicatus
Jerusalem Artichoke,
Helianthus tuberosus L.
Jewelweed, spotted touch me nots
(Impatiens capensis
Meerb.)
Joe Pye weed, Eupatorium
maculatum L.; Eupatorium purpurea L.
Jojoba, Simmondsia
chinensis
Juniper, Juniperus communis L.
Jasminum officinale
Oleaceae
Used in perfumes. Flavoring for tea.
Medicine: In Ayurvedic medicine mixed with Acorus calamus to treat ringworm. Also, oil or tea used to treat pain.
J. lanceolarium used in Traditional Chinese Medicine it is considered a bitter nervine, cooling, astringent herb used to treat rheumatism, arthritis, sores, wounds, boils, abscesses, analgesic, hepatitis and dysentery. May be prophylactic to cancer (tea) and anti-microbial.
Folklore: Tea as an aphrodisiac.
Chemistry: Essential oils, pyrridine alkaloids
Orthosiphon spicatus
Tropical herb of Asia, Australia.
Medicine: Aerial parts in bloom are harvested. Uses approved by Commission E: kidney and bladder stones; infections of the urinary tract.
Chemistry: Caryophyllene, alpha-humulene, caryophyllene-epoxide, flavonoids to include: eupatorin, salvigenin, sinensetin, scutellarine. Caffeic acid derivatives: Rosmaric acid and saponins.
Drug commercially available in various forms. See your holistic health care practitioner.
Helianthus tuberosus L.
Compositae/Asteraceae
Uses: (Recipe)Notes: We grow three patches of this plant. Inulin in root when lightly cooked stimulates immune response. Diabetics who eat lightly cooked tubers will get polysaccharides that slowly digest to simple sugars, thereby reducing their sugar load. Thinly sliced in salads, taste like water chestnut. Wild plant that is prolific.
Food: Tuberous sunflower with edible tubers. Pick in Fall and early Spring and throughout the Winter. Tuber may be peeled and sliced into salads.
Welcome producer to your garden. Best isolate; vigorous and friendly, over exuberant in its own importance and propagation. Practice birth control, or self confine in an area that it cannot overrun.
Medicine: Inulin in roots may help diabetics by slowing glucose absorption. Leaves and cut stalks were infused in water and drunk by First People to treat rheumatism.
Chemistry: Tuber is good source of polysaccharide inulin. Lightly cooked is beneficial to pre-diabetics providing a slow release of simple sugars. Longer cooking cleaves polysaccharide chain in disaccharides and simple sugars. Eat raw or lightly cooked. Sliced in a salad great.
Early in Fall or late Summer it is not necessary to peel, Fall, Winter and Spring tubers are best peeled.
Orange jewelweed, spotted touch me nots
Impatiens capensis Meerb.
Balsiminaceae
Uses: (photo and information)
Food: I eat the small flowers of summer in salads and stir fry. The young shoots of spring bolt up as complete ground cover in wet lowlands, along streams, wetlands, lakes. Pick the shoots and add to your mushroom soup, egg dishes, stir fry or saute spring vegetables.
Medicine: A traditional treatment for poison ivy. Rub the aerial parts of plants over inflamed area of dermatitis. Anti-inflammatory effect. Itching is reduced as is inflammation. Plants also used by Native Americans for treating dyspepsia, measles, hives. The Creek Indians used a infusion of smashed spicebush berries and jewelweed as a bath for congestive heart failure. crushed flowers were used on bruises, cuts and burns.
Also, Impatiens biflorus L. is considered a appetite stimulant, diuretic and digestive aid.
Chemistry: Napthalene derivatives: napthoquinones.
Joe Pye Weed, Gravel Root
Eupatorium maculatum L., E. purpureum L.
Asteraceae
Common weed eastern and central United States along roadside traversing thickets, edges of wetlands, bogs, marshes.
Food: Not Edible. Some tribes used root ash as a spice or as a salt substitute.
Medicine: E. maculatum: Decoction of leaf and root, or infusion of leaf and root powder taken internally to treat urinary tract stones and other kidney and urinary tract problems. . Also, decoction of root used to treat bed wetting (urinary incontinence) in kids. Diuretic to treat congestive heart failure (dropsy). Used to treat gout. Tea for treating asthma. Native Americans used E. maculatum for treating menstrual disorders, dysmenorhea. Recovery tea for women after pregnancy. E. purpureum used by Cherokee to treat rheumatism, arthritis. As a diuretic. Pregnancy tonic and treatment for dysmenorrhea. Infusion of root used as a laxative. Potawatomi used fresh leaves as poultice. Navajo used root as antidote to poisoning. Historically, claimed to have been successful treatment for typhus in New England Colonial times.
Notes: Cherokee and other tribes used stems like straws. Root of E. purpureum used by Meskwaki as an aphrodisiac (Apparently sucked on root while wooing or love making).
Chemistry: E. purpureum:Flavonoids, resin, volatile oils.
Simmondsia chinensis (Link.) Schneid.
Simmondsia
Food: I have not eaten this fruit or its seeds. Native Americans do. But I cannot recommend it until further investigation. The pure and processed oil is not edible.
Medicine: Emollient. Wax extracted from the seeds of this fruit. Wax is used in cosmetics as a carrier for skin care products, provides ingredients protection from oxidation.
Native Americans used this indigenous plant as a poultice for wound treatment, a cathartic. The seeds were dried, crushed and applied to wounds. Oily fruit used as a cathartic. Seeds were ground to powder and eaten; seeds roasted and ground into a buttery spread.
Chemistry:
Unsaturated fatty acids.
Juniperus communis (L.)
Cupressaceae
Uses: (Photo, more) (As a wild food and Native American medicine)
Food: stews, wild game, domestic foul, berries may be made into tea, crush berry first use judiciously, one or two berries. Juniper berries may be infused into vodka and used in cooking game, sauteing and as a grilling marinade. Grated it is uses on cold cuts, so try it on vegetated protein cold cuts, like Wham and Mock chicken, soy burgers. Gin, schnapps and aquavit are flavored with juniper berries.
Medicine: Diuretic, extract is in diuretic (Odrinil). Antiseptic, diuretic, cleansing tonic, and digestive aid. Used traditionally to treat arthritis, rheumatism, strongly antiseptic to urinary tract problems, gallbladder but contra-indicated for kidney disease. Possible indication for heart disease, high blood pressure, dropsy. Native Americans used juniper branches around Tipis and shelters to fend off rattle snakes. Is uses in Europe for arthritis and gout. Diluted essential oil is applied to skin to draw and cleanse deeper skin tissue. Has been used to increase, promote menstruation (PMS, Pre Menstrual Syndrome, dysmenorrhea).
Traditional Medicinal Preparation: One teaspoon of berries to one cup, boil for three minutes, let steep until cool. Some add bark and needles to berries.
Chemistry: Volatile oil: myrcene, alpha and beta pinene, cineole, sabinene. Also diterpenes, vitamin C, resin, simple carbohydrates, tannins.
Warning: Use sparingly, beware of allergic reaction. Pregnant women should avoid this herb because it may induce uterine contractions (pregnancy). Do not use if expected kidney infection or kidney disease. Reported uterine stimulating effects. May increase on induce menstrual bleeding. Do not use potent, caustic essential oil internally without the help of a licensed holistic health care practitioner.