W Section
Watercress, Nasturtium officinale L.
Wild Yam, Dioscorea villosa; D. composita Hemsl
Wintergreen, teaberry, checkerberry, Canada tea, Gaultheria procumbens L.
Willow, white willow, black willow, swamp willow, Salix alba L., Salix nigra Marsh
Witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana L.
Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium L.
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra L.
Juglandaceae
Notes: To remove the husk (stain producing covering of the walnut) you may put them on a paved driveway and roll them under your shoe. Or jack up a car slightly (about 1 inch) off the ground engage the transmission and let the walnuts shoot under the tire. A few use where gloves and us a hammer to pound and tug the husk away. In our video TREES, SHRUBS, NUTS AND BERRIES, you can see a simple electric walnut huller in action.
Uses:
Food: In baked goods, cereals, waffles, pancakes, salads. Or eat it on the hoof out of hand.
Medicine: Cholesterol reducing in Loma Linda U. test where participants ate 20% of calories from walnuts. Also, ratio of LDL/ HDL lowered by 12%. (see Nutrition Today, vol. 30.No 4 pp175-176; 1995.) Walnuts may help prevent hyperthyroidism, scabies, may lessen inflammation of psoriasis and arthritis. Walnuts are rich in serotonin, mood enhancing...And may improve satiety by reducing cravings thereby treating obesity.
Black walnut husk extract is antifungal. An antifungal compound: Equal parts of tincture of golden seal, cinnamon, tea tree oil and black walnut husk tincture.
Chemistry: Serotonin (mood booster, depression treatment). Ten percent of calories in California walnuts comes from protein but not a complete protein, it is complementary to many foods, providing lysine to breakfast cereals making them complete in essential fatty acids. Fats are primarily polyunsaturated 70%; monounsaturated 18%. Polyunsaturates are 12% linolenic and 58% linoleic. Linolenic is converted to Omega 3 fatty acids in our body. High in phosphorus and potassium, magnesium and calcium. Good fiber content and low ratio of lysine to arginine may be beneficial to cholesterol reduction. 4% of walnut skin contains ellagic acid a phenolic compound free radical scavenger (antioxidant).
Nasturtium officinale L.
Cruciferae/Brassicareae
Uses: (Photo and information)
Food: Harvest from a clean water source, then cook it. That's right. Trust only your back yard if you plan to eat this food raw. You may pull it up by its roots and replant it in your garden. Keep it wet and it will reward you with peppery leaves. One of the main ingredients in V 8 cocktail juice
Medicine/Chemistry: Watercress is a good source of vitamins, minerals and isothiocyanate. Isothiocyanate may proide protection from cancer
Commission E approved use to treat coughs, bronchitis.
Dioscorea villosa; D. composita Hemsl
Dioscoreaceae
Uses: (Photo, more)
Food: used in Chinese medicinal cooking in soups. Start with a very small amount 20 grams of the sliced, dried root available in Chinese supermarkets and Chinese drug stores.
Medicine: Diosgenin (breakdown component of dioscin) was the precursor material for the birth estrogenic principally progesterone compounds in the birth control pill. Japanese scientists also develop corticosteroid compounds from the root starter material. DHEA and other hormones and hormone starter materials are fabricated from the phytosterols in the root of wild yam. Traditionally in South America indigenous people used the root pain of menstruation, labor (ovarian pain). Also used for arthritis, digestive aid and muscle cramping. Has anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, anti-arthritis, warming and diuretic properties. Tea has been prescribed by Naturapaths for irritable bowel syndrome. Tincture for arthritis.
Dioscorea species contains phytosterols, polysaccharides, enzyme amylase, arginine, keucine, tyrosine...Root is decocted 10-25 grams in doses on empty stomach. For chronic fatigue, nocturnal emissions., neurasthenia similar to chronic fatigue insomnia, neurosis, feeling of inadequacy... leukorrhea whitish viscid discharge from vagina, immune deficiency, abscesses boils, skin sores (as poultice).. Not for people with high blood pressure or constipation.
Chemistry: phytosterols, beta-sitosterol, saponins dioscin, polysaccharides, phenolic compound tannin and various alkaloids.
Preparation and dose: Chopped root is made into tea or tinctured in 30-40% alcohol. One teaspoon of chopped root to a cup of boiling water. Take as prescribed by your holistic healthcare practitioner. Tincture: 100 grams of dried chopped root to a half liter of 30-40% alcohol (60-80 proof). See Andrew Chevallier, The encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants, Reader's Digest Books for more information reference page 291.
WARNING: DO NOT TAKE DURING PREGNANCY.
teaberry, checkerberry, Canada tea
Gaultheria procumbens L.
Ericaceae
Description: Small evergreen forest dweller, typically sub
arboreal, but found spreading in open areas of woods. To 5 or 6 inches
tall, often shorter in dry woods, adventitious roots, spreading plant.
flowers are white, waxy bells that droop. Fruit is pale white berry, red
when ripe.
(photo, more).
Uses:
Food: Pleasant wintergreen tea. I prefer to chew on fresh leaf while walking in woods. My two favorite chew sticks are wintergreen and sassafras. Berries are scarce and bland, but fun to look for. The leaf tea, chewing the leaf and eating the berries is the safest way to experience the unusual flavor of this plant. Dried leaf tea has different taste than fresh leaf tea. Try it both ways.
Medicine: Leaf tea used to treat stomachaches, fevers, colds headaches, kidney ailments. Also, used to treat dysmenorrhea (avoid during pregnancy). Carminative chew, leaf and leaf tea.
Also, used in Europe to treat neuralgia, sciatica.
Caution: Fatalities have occurred taking oral and subcutaneous doses of the essential oil, amounts of 4 grams have been toxic and fatal. Oil has caused allergic reactions.
Chemistry: Volatile oil is methyl salicylate, oenanthic alcohol as ester. Gaultherin and monotropitoside that converts to methyl salicylate when dried.
Willow, White Willow, Black Willow, Swamp Willow
Salix alba L., Salix nigra Marsh
Salicaceae
Description: Tree or shrub; lance like fine toothed leaves, prefers wet ground. Salix alba sometimes called weeping willow. Black willow often found in marshy areas.
Food: Warning: A tea can be made from the twig bark that contains salicin. Use with extreme care.
Medicine: An infusion of the stem and leaves releases salicin the natural chemical model for synthetic aspirin. Aspirin may help prevent acute infections, cancer, strokes and heart attacks. It may help boost immunity.
Commission E approved use for treating pain, rheumatism.
Note: I prefer using aspirin for its therapeutic effects. Research has been done on aspirin but not salicin and willow extract that contain, of course, much more than merely salicin. Recent evidence has shown that willow can concentrate Cadmium a toxic metal. All species of willow concentrate this metal if it is available in the soil. Cadmium accumulation in the kidney and liver of birds eating willow is poisoning them, especially ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus) in the mountains near Durango Colorado. (for more see Science News, P.90. August 5, 2000. Vol. 158.
Not to be used by people allergic to salicylatas.
Witch Hazel
Hamamelis virginiana L.
Hamamelidaceae
Uses: (Photo, more) (Native American Uses)
Food: None.
Medicine: Leaves and bark used. Drying, Astringent, hemostatic, anti-inflammatory. Native American uses: Leaf tea was used externally on muscle aches, athlete's food, wounds, burns and other dermatitis. Tea also consumed for coughs, asthma, colds, sore throats, dysentery, diarrhea. Tea considered styptic to diarrhea. Modern uses include liniments, eye ointments, skin toning astringent and witch hazel water distilled from leaves and twigs....To treat piles, as an eye wash, to treat hemorrhoids, colitis and varicose veins, sore muscles, bruises and sprains. Tannins from distillation active compound. Also, to treat local skin irritations and inflammations, excema. Drug is available in ointment, liniment and steam distillations. Witch Hazel water (distilled) contains no tannins but is still astringent. Used as a gargle for sore throat, sore gums.
Commission E approved usages: For external use on hemorrhoids, skin inflammations, venous condition therapy, wounds, burns. Use leaf for mouth and pharynx treatment.
Chemistry: Seven to ten percent Tannins (protein precipitants): hamamelitannin, oligomeric procyanidins, monogalloylhamameloses, other gallotannins. Volatile oils: aliphatic alcohols and esters.
Artemisia absinthium L.
Compositae
Uses: (Photo, more)
Food: flavoring in vermouth.
Medicine: Aromatic bitters that stimulates the secretion of bile and hydrochloric acid in stomach. Good for those who have weak or under active digestion. Anti-flatulence. Anti-inflammatory (azulene is anti-inflammatory). Used to eliminate worms, ease stomach pain and as a mild antidepressant. Sesquiterpene lactones have an anti-tumor effect and are insecticidal.
Commission E approved uses: To treat loss of appetite, dyspepsia, liver and gallbladder complaints.
Thujone is a brain stimulant in small doses toxic in large doses. Tincture also used to treat anemia under professional supervision.
Chemistry: sesquiterpene lactones: artabsin, anabsinthin, azulenes, thujone. Flavonoids, phenolic acids and lignins.
Wildlife/Veterinarian: tincture may kill worms, anti-helminthic. Insecticide and insect repellent.
Preparation: Take only with professional help due to toxic thujone. Never taken over five weeks at a time. Infusion for digestion, tincture for improving anemia, digestion, eliminate worms...CAUTION.
Stachys palustris
Labiatae
Medicine: Aerial parts this European plant as a poultice over wounds. It is an astringent, antiseptic, antispasmodic, useful to treat wounds and external and internal bleeding. Seek consultation with your personal, professional healthcare provider.
Chemistry: Flavonoids, betaines, Iridoide monoterpenes.