Native America's Pharmacy on the Prairie

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Jerusalem artichoke now is being cultivated as a food crop for livestock and human consumption.

*Gayfeather (Liatris pycnostachya)
American Indians in the St. Louis region used the root of gayfeather for treating sexually transmitted diseases. Gayfeather corms were chewed and blown through the nostrils of horses to make them run faster. Flowers were mixed with corn and fed to horses to keep them in good condition.

Hoary puccoon (Lithospermum canescens)
The Lakota Indians used the powdered roots for chest wounds. Hoary puccoon leaf tea was rubbed on a person for fever with spasms and to treat insanity.  Yellow puccoon was chewed and spit on the face to keep a person awake. The puccoons were an important dye plant for many Indian tribes.

Studies have found naturally occurring estrogen compounds in some species of puccoons, which eventually may make them useful for birth control.

Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Lobelia was used as a love charm by several American Indian tribes. The plant was chopped and put in the food of a quarrelsome couple without their knowledge. Chippewa Indians used a combination of sumac and lobelia to treat sexually transmitted diseases. Colonists used it to induce vomiting.

Lobelia is fatal in large doses. The alkaloid lobeline is used to help people quit smoking and also is used in resuscitation of newborn infants and to revive people from drug overdoses.

Wild bergamot (Monarda spp.)
Many North American Indian tribes used wild bergamot extensively for treatment of colds and fevers. Tea was drunk after childbirth. Dakota and Winnebago Indians used wild bergamot to treat Asiatic cholera.

Monarda is a source of thymol, which has been used for its antifungal, antibacterial and vermicidal properties.

Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Roots were boiled in several changes of water and eaten like parsnips. Leaves were cooked as a vegetable or added to salad for a peppery taste. American Indians used the root for coughs, as an antispasmodic, to suppress pain and to reduce inflammation.

Extracted oil from seeds has been shown to be useful in treating atopic eczema, premenstrual syndrome and mild hypertension. Evening primrose also contains several substances that make it useful for treating burns, wounds and skin lesions.

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
Roots were mixed with lard and used for skin diseases. Berry tea was use to treat rheumatism, arthritis and dysentery.

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