Blue Cohosh

This lovely lady, and when you meet her you will feel the same as I do, is found in my Wisconsin woods. She has a fragile feeling about her. Her tulip-like leaves flutter eighteen to twenty-four inches off the floor of the forest. She prefers to be around mature trees where the leafy canopy is high over head, allowing small plants to thrive without much competition.

Her early flowers are in clusters and are hard to notice as they are greenish-yellow in color and blend in with the new foliage. By the time you notice Blue Cohosh, the "woodland spring flowers" have been in blossom awhile.

Blue Cohosh gets her name from the blue-green of her leaves and the bright blue berries that are found in the fall. Her common names are Squaw root, Papoose root, Blue Ginseng, and Yellow Ginseng, all of which you will understand as you read. Her leaves have three lobes ending almost the same length with the middle one sometimes having a two-toothed lobe. This gives the appearance of a blue-green tulip. I guess if I had been the one to name her, she would have been called the blue tulip plant.

The fruit of the flowers have "one or two seeds about the size of a large pea, which ripens in August," according to Mrs. Grieve in her A MODERN HERBAL, "these are sometimes roasted and boiled in water and given as a decoction resembling coffee." I usually harvest these blue berries and replant them in woody areas.

The roots are "hard thick, irregular, knotty contorted caudex (the base of the stem), one to several inches long, with slender radicles (roots) up to 8 inches long, externally yellowy brown, internally whitish to yellow, with a central pith running longitudinally" all according to Mrs. Grieves.

As a medicinal herb, Blue Cohosh qualifies. It is said to have estrogenic properties. Historically it was prescribed by physicians for cramps and chronic uterine diseases.

A study in India suggests that the roots may possess some contraceptive properties.

Blue Cohosh has been used to relieve childbirth pains when given at the proper time, which means that it should only be taken in the last month of pregnancy.

Although I have called this plant a she and so far have discussed her uses for women, she is very helpful for men as well.

Blue Cohosh has been used successfully for rheumatism, epilepsy, leukorhea, neuralgia, dropsy, hysteria, palpitations of the heart, high blood pressure and diabetes. I have read that it is also good for hiccoughs and whooping cough. A tea can be used for children with colic.

Jethro Kloss, author of BACK TO EDEN wrote, "Blue Cohosh contains the following vital minerals; potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, silicon, and phosphorus. These minerals help to alkalize the blood and urine. This herb can be quite irritating to mucus surfaces and therefore should be used with some caution. It should not be used during pregnancy and should be taken only one week at a time, one to three capsules daily."

When I went to Dr. James A. Duke's database, I found a lot of things that this plant has the ability to work on. Here are just a few of the many: Antibacteric, Anticancer, Antidiabetic, AntiHIV, Antiinflammatory, Antioxidant, Antispasmodic, Candidicide, Cardioprotective, Pesticide, Vasoconstrictor and Vasodilator. These last two are a reminder that even when a plant works in one direction, it also has the ability to work in another direction. It is the plant working with the body that does the healing. The body knows what of this plant is needed and the plant supplies it.

It has been my experience that most people using this herb combine it with other herbs in making formulas. When we put together a formulation, we are looking for that formula to do a certain thing. We combine the herbs that will help us in this manner.

One of the formulas contains Blue Cohosh is Dr. John R. Christopher's B & B Tincture. This formulation is used as a nerve and hearing loss/ earache formula. Due to the formulation, it is great internally and externally. In this formula Dr. Christopher combines Blue Cohosh with four other nervine herbs. Dr. Christopher says that this formula can be "Used to aid in nervous conditions, sore throat, hiccups and restore malfunctioning motor nerves." The combination is designed to go to the nerves that are in trouble and help with the rebuilding. When my thumb muscles didn't work without hurting after my arm was taken out of a cast, I dropped B&B tincture on the skin and allowed it to be absorbed. When the nerves had been relaxed, I manually worked those muscles and in a short time, I was able to use the thumb without assistance and discomfort.

According to Dr. Christopher in his Natural Healing Newsletter, Volume 5, no. 9, "Dr. King of the Eclectic School of Medicine employed Blue Cohosh for its benefits on the mucous membranes. Later Dr. Scudder believed Blue Cohosh effected its good through the hypogastric plexus, thus affecting the circulation, nutrition, and reproduction."

Herbs are designed to cleanse the help the body rebuild. They supply the building blocks and allow the body to heal.