Page 165 - Lost Book Remedies

The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies

and note that it can cause a false positive for opiate use Place the rhizome pieces into a clean jar with a tight-
on a drug test. Consult a medical professional before fitting lid. Cover the herb completely, filling the jar
use. with alcohol. Cap and label and place it in a cool, dark
cupboard. Shake the jar daily for 6 to 8 weeks while the
Recipes. Bleeding Heart Tincture: Finely tincture steeps. Strain, label, and store. Usual dosage
chopped fresh or dried bleeding-heart rhizome to fill is 10 to 20 drops of fresh tincture, and 15 to 30 drops if
½ a jar, 80 proof or better alcohol such as vodka or using dried roots. Use with care.
brandy.

Bloodroot,

Sanguinaria canadensis

Bloodroot is mainly for the treatment of skin cancers,
ulcers, and wounds that won’t heal. I have always
known the herb as bloodroot, but it is also called red-
root and red puccoon.

The juice is red and quickly dyes the skin and has been
used by the Algonquin Tribe to paint the skin for ritual.
It is in the Papaveraceae (Poppy) Family.

Use with great caution! This herb grows in eastern
North America in moist thickets and dry woods and on
floodplains and near streams. to 12 fragile white petals, yellow stamens, and two sep-
als positioned below the leaves, which fall off after the
Identification: Bloodroot is a stemless, rhizoma- flowers open. The root is a blood-red rhizome that will
tous wildflower that blooms in early spring. The herb branch out and grow new rhizomes.
grows from 6 to 10 inches (15 cm to 25 cm) tall. The
leaves go dormant in mid to late summer. When the Medicinal Use: Caution is advised. Bloodroot is a
bloodroot flower is sprouting, it’s usually wrapped by toxic plant, and serious problems can arise. Use small
one deeply-scalloped, grayish-green, palmate basal doses only as advised by a medical professional or find
leaf. Bloodroot has a hermaphroditic flower that has 8 an alternative plant. The root is used medicinally.
Skin Cancers, Ulcers, Moles, Skin Tags,
Warts, Eczema and Other Skin Conditions:
Treating skin problems is what bloodroot does best.
However, use with great caution and in moderate
amounts as it will also kill healthy cells and can cause
permanent scarring and sloughing of the skin. Tradi-
tionally, people made and applied a salve from blood-
root to the affected area.

They covered it with a bandage and left it in place for a
week or so. Usually, only one application is required,
but extensive areas, deep lesions, or other tough cases
may require repeated application.
The bloodroot kills the cancerous or damaged cells and
covers the area with a scab.
Leave it alone to heal, and check the area to be sure
that all of the cancer is removed so that it doesn’t
1 Bloodroot flowers, by UpstateNYer, CC by SA 3.0

164