Louisiana Herb Journal

Healing on Home Ground

Corinne Martin

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9780807177754
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

In a world of constant change and crisis, the relationship between humans and their environment has never been more vital. Louisiana Herb Journal invites readers into the world of medicinal herbs, introducing fifty herbs found in Louisiana, with details on identification, habitat, distribution, healing properties, and traditional uses, including instruction on popular preparation methods such as tinctures and teas.

Interspersed with these practical details, herbalist Corinne Martin shares stories that foster a true connection between readers and the world around them, from tales of childhood cherry picking to harvest mishaps to folklife traditions passed down through the generations. Accessible to experienced and rookie herbalists alike, Louisiana Herb Journal offers a new way of looking at the natural world, getting to know one's "home ground" through a lens of healing and participation.

Family connections, an intimate knowledge of the surrounding lands and waters, strong community bonds, an irrepressible resilience, and a great capacity for celebrating life despite hardships are part and parcel of what it means to be from Louisiana. A celebration of the state and the cultures of those who live there, Louisiana Herb Journal reflects on the value of medicinal herbs in promoting personal healing and addressing current challenges to the state's environmental and economic stability. Readers will gain a deeper recognition of the natural wealth Louisiana enjoys and the ways that our stewardship of wild plants can impact our personal health as well as the state's ecological future.

THE

HERBS

BEAUTYBERRY & THE BOARDWALK

FALL

Beautyberry

(Callicarpa americana)

This morning, my walk starts and ends with beautyberry. On this gray day, with tropical storm winds and a mean-looking sky, the beautyberry is the brightest thing in sight. I’m so happy to see it. After four decades of being in love with medicinal plants, this herb is completely new to me. I want to begin experimenting with it—can’t wait to harvest fruit and leaves and maybe bark.

The first time I saw this shrub, it was used in a native planting along the bayou boardwalk in Houma, tucked across from the little water-life museum. It was early fall, and I was just walking along when suddenly a strange, brilliantly colorful shrub caught my eye. Clumps of astoundingly purple berries were crowded at regular intervals all along the stems. I assumed that this was some tender, demanding, highly cultivated bush—but I was wrong. The next time I saw beautyberry, it was in the Mandalay Nature Trail woods. Stems were covered with clusters of pale pink flowers, and the plant was holding its own despite thick tangles of trees and vines and swampy growth. After doing some research, I found that beautyberry is a native shrub, and is well known in Creole healing traditions for its medicinal properties.

Beautyberry’s swampy home is a hint to one of its most popular uses—as an insect repellent! Bark, leaves, and root can all be crushed and extracted in either alcohol, witch hazel, or oil, then applied to keep pesky bugs from biting. Recently, this traditional use has been proven to have an accurate foundation. Scientific studies confirm that the leaves of Callicarpa americana contain compounds that repel mosquitoes and other biting insects. Another study found that they also contain terpenoids that repel fire ants. And if you don’t have time to make your own bug repellent, the leaves can just be crushed and rubbed onto skin or clothing, and are reported to keep insects away for several hours.

Another popular external use is as a poultice for wounds and skin rashes. Folk healers also used the leaves and roots in sweat baths for malaria and its accompanying pain. And taken internally, beautyberry leaves, flowers, and fruit are felt to relieve digestive upsets, colic, and diarrhea, and to resolve fever and inflammation.

Today, I was hoping to get to know the plant better, and to make a small harvest. On the same boardwalk where I first spotted the herb, I take a cautious nibble of one of the fruits. I’ve read many reports about the taste of the berries. Some people note that it seems to be tasteless, while others dislike the flavor. Many end up adding sugar and other ingredients to make a beautyberry jelly or jam, which I imagine must be gorgeous! Holding the fruit in my mouth now, I find the texture to be a bit mealy, and the flavor barely discernible, with maybe the tiniest sweet aftertaste. The leaves aren’t bad tasting either—a little rough textured, with the flavor stronger than the berries, but still not bad. After a minute or two of chewing the leaf, I begin to get a more “medicinal” flavor.

I’m so glad that the town has introduced native species into their landscaping—otherwise, I might never have gotten to know about beautyberry and all its healing properties. But I’m uncertain about harvesting here, in this public place. Maybe the woods would be a better spot. Or maybe instead of trying to harvest in town or in the wild, I could plant a beautyberry shrub in my own yard and wait for it to flourish. I love using native plants for gardening, especially if they have medicinal properties. In another year or so, I could have a striking, showy plant to use for healing, and could also be feeding much of the local wildlife.

For now, just as the rain begins to pour, I stuff a few berry-laden twigs into my raincoat pocket. Later, I can at least make a small tincture, or maybe start up an herbal bug repellent to have on hand until my own beautyberry begins to grow. On the way home, I’ll stop off at a plant nursery to see if they have the native shrub. I’ve read there are numerous cultivars that are planted for landscaping purposes, but since I want to use this herb for healing, I’ll want the native variety in my yard. In fact, I might get two! I pop another bright fruit into my mouth and chew it all the way to the car.

Other Names: Callicarpa americana, American beautyberry, French mulberry, Bermuda mulberry, sour bush, bunchberry, filigrana, filigrana de mazorca, filigrana de pinar, foxberry, purple beautyberry, Spanish mulberry, turkeyberry.

Parts Used: Root, bark, leaves, fruit, flowers.

Medicinal Properties: Root—Diuretic; Leaves, flowers, fruit—Anti-inflammatory; diaphoretic, febrifuge.

Uses: Internal—Muscle/joint stiffness and pain (especially after exercise), rheumatism; fluid retention; fevers; gastrointestinal upsets, acid reflux; malaria. External—Insect repellent, poultice, used in sweat baths.

Risks: No contraindications or drug interactions known.

Description: A fast-growing native perennial shrub reaching from five to eight feet tall and almost as wide, with drooping branches. Elliptical to ovate leaves are opposing with saw-toothed margins, are pubescent underneath, and aromatic when crushed. Dense clusters of pink axillary flowers along squared stems are replaced by iridescent purple (occasionally white) berrylike fruit that is about one-quarter inch long and wide. Berries persist after leaves drop in the fall.

Habitat: Sandy or rocky woodlands, usually moist and low rich bottomlands, fencerows, and the edges of swamps. Can occur as understudy species in upland pine forests and old-growth maritime forests. Also cultivated.

Distribution: Most parishes.

Plant Status: Native in Louisiana and adjoining states.

Animal Use: Valuable as a wildlife food plant and dry-season water source for over forty species of birds, including bobwhite quail, robins, cardinals, catbirds, finches, mockingbirds, thrashers, and towhees. Fruit also eaten by armadillos, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, gray foxes, and some rodents. Cattle may use leaves for winter browse. Deer will eat the leaves, and occasionally bed down in the bushes.

Natural History: The roots, leaves, and branches were used by several Native American tribes, including the Alabama, Choctaw, Creek, Koasati, Seminole, and others. Roots, leaves, and branches were used in sweat baths to treat malarial fevers and rheumatism. A decoction of roots was used internally to treat dizziness, stomachaches, dysentery, and colic. Bark from stems and roots was used to treat itchy skin. A tea from the root bark was taken to treat urine retention. It was also used in ceremonies. Cajun traiteurs prized the roots as an application for gum disease. Settlers in Appalachia crushed leafy branches and placed them between the harness and the horse to keep deerflies, horseflies, and mosquitoes away. Also known as a fire ant deterrent.

Designation: Cajun/Creole folk-medicine herb, folkloric herbalism remedy, Native American healing plant.

Remedy Form: Internal—Tea, tincture, edible (fruit). External—Poultice, salve, ointment, liniment, sweat bath.

BEAUTYBERRY INSECT REPELLENT

1 cup chopped and crushed beautyberry leaves

4 ounces rubbing alcohol or commercial witch hazel extract

2 drops body wash or spray

Personal-size spray bottle

1. Put crushed leaves into a clean canning jar.

2. Cover the herb with the alcohol or witch hazel. Let sit for one week.

3. Strain the mixture through a sieve lined with cheesecloth.

4. Add a few drops of a body wash or spray.

5. Pour into a mini sprayer bottle, and spray on arms and legs. Reapply every couple of hours.

BEGGAR’S TICKS & THE BIG VIRUS

EARLY SPRING

Beggar’s ticks

(Bidens sp.)

On a beautiful morning in mid-March, the sky is blue with blotchy white clouds, and a bright sun rises up over the levee. Ibis feed at the batture ponds and then sail up into trees that are just leafing out. My dog Bodi and I walk along the levee, watch the birds, spot a small alligator floating in the pond. Everything is lush with spring growth. But it’s hard lately not to worry about the state of things—the many threats that face us now—the land, sinking down, and the “Big Virus” that puts us suddenly at risk. I worry about the world, and how we all will handle this newest crisis.

With that in mind, I’m on a little “herb mission”—looking for someth...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• How Herbs Work
• Using the Herbs
• Prologue
• THE HERBS
• Epilogue: Medicinal Plants and the State of the State
• Glossary
• References
• Recommended Resources
• Index of Common Uses