Native America's Pharmacy on the Prairie

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*Illinois bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis)
Pawnee Indians used leaf tea for itching. Seeds were used for eye infections.

Illinois bundleflower is being studied to see if it has potential for a range crop plant.

Purple coneflowers ( Echinacea spp.)
Purple coneflowers were probably the medicinal plants most widely used by the Plains Indians. The crushed root was used for relieving pain and reducing inflammations, especially for bites from insects, spiders and snakes, and as a local anesthetic.

Research in Germany has yielded over 200 pharmaceutical preparations from purple coneflowers.  Extracts have shown the ability to stimulate the immune system and inhibit several types of cancer.  Fresh juice from aboveground parts of E. purpurea increased the resistance against several viruses in the cells of mice. Unfortunately, demand has caused overharvesting of this plant in the western part of its range. The plant is easily propagated from seed in gardens.

Rattlesnake-master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
Creek, Cherokee and Fox Indians used a poultice from an infusion of the root for reducing fevers, cleansing poisonous bites and expelling water from the body.

No research has been done on E. yuccifolium; however a related species of Eryngium in Jordan has been found to contain an effective antivenom for scorpion stings.

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Tea from the leaves was used to treat colds and fevers; large doses were used to induce vomiting. Tea also was used to treat fever in horses.

Tests in Germany have shown that boneset is as effective as aspirin in treating cold symptoms. There is suspicion that boneset contains potentially liver-damaging alkaloids.

*Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata)
Mesquakies Indians had several uses for flowering spurge. They drank an infusion of the root before breakfast as a laxative and also as a remedy for rheumatism. They also mixed roots with berries of staghorn sumac and bur oak and drank the concoction to expel pinworms.

Research indicates that several toxic compounds occur in many Euphorbia spp., including some that cause dermatitis.

Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)
Used by several Indian tribes as a bitter tonic for stomach digestion and to promote appetite.

Several compounds in the gentian family are used today to treat malaria and rheumatic inflammations.

Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.)
Sunflowers were an important food plant for the Plains Indians.  Evidence indicates that sunflower domestication began 3,000 years ago. Since then, Indians increased the size of sunflower seeds 1,000 percent through cultivation. Seeds were used to make bread or eaten raw. One variety of sunflower, the Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.), produces edible underground tubers. Uncooked, they taste like water chestnuts; cooked, they are sweeter than potatoes but not as firm. Considered a good food for weight-watchers and diabetics because of inulin, a carbohydrate that is highly digestible.

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