12. Other Plants
For the Complete New Castle Historical Society's List of Herbs and Perennial with their medicinal and culinary uses click here
Below are the selected plants included on the trail
Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) The Native Americans used this plant’s leaves to formulate an ointment to make athletes’ legs more limber, and in a tea to promote curative sweating. The plant also has a high alkaloid content which made it useful in treating paralysis and tremors.
Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) This plant contains a rare fatty acid called gamma-linolenic, and oils from it help ease pains caused by PMS. The Native Americans also made it into a tea for obesity, and applied it in poultice form to help bruises and speed wound recovery. It was also used on muscles to give them strength. They can be eaten in a salad or boiled.
Bee Balm (Mondra didyma) This plant is known by several names: horsemint, Oswego tea, and bergamot. The Native Americans diffused the fresh or dried crushed leaves in boiling water to treat colic, gas, colds and fevers, insomnia, and stomach aches; the tea it makes has a similar taste to Earl Gray. As a poultice and tea it was used for headaches.
Clintonia (Clintonia borealis) The Native Americans used Clintonia leaves to topically sooth burns, sores, bruises, and infections. They drank it as a medicinal tea for heart disease and diabetes. The root contains an anti-inflammatory and helps produce progesterone. The leaves are boiled and eaten with butter and before the leaves unfurled it can be added to salads.
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) The Native Americans brewed this plant into tea to stop profuse menstruation, help indigestion, sooth coughs and other lung aliments and serve as a laxative. It was also thought to generally aid in arthritis, rheumatism, and piles. The shoots were cooked like asparagus or potatoes.
Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans) The Native American translation of this plant means “smells like pine.” It was used to treat coughs, colds, bronchitis, laryngitis, tuberculosis, fevers and inflammatory diseases, including skin conditions and poisonous bites.