Many healers study the physical nature of plants for clues to their properties. The spotted lung pattern on plants like Lugwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) led ancient herbalists to try treating bronchitis and other lung and throat ailments with this plant with good success. The stomach shaped pods of Senna (Senna alexandrina) led herbalists to discover the shrub's usefulness for treating the digestive tract.
Even colors speak to those prepared to listen. For years, Coptis species were used as a detoxifier to cleanse the body system. The inner bark of Coptis is yellow, the color most associated with the liver and with bile. The liver holds and attempts to filter the body's toxins. Coptis became endangered in the 1930's from over-harvesting so a new detoxifier had to be found. Attention was now turned to another plant with yellow inner root bark, Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). This plant became the second most popular herb in America for the next 50 years. Now Goldenseal has become over-harvested like Coptis before it, and the new substitute for Goldenseal with the inner yellow bark as well, Oregon Grape (Berberis vulgaris). The need to flush our systems of toxins has brought the toxin "scarcity" into our mother's body to be healed as well. Oregon Grape is being monitored by environmentalists, and organic farmers are planting Coptis and Goldenseal to reduce the need for wild harvesting of these plants. |
