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DOGSBANE
Apocynum androsaemifolium
[Ap-o-kye-num and-row-say-mee-fol-ee-um]
Family: Apocynaceae
Names: dogsbane, fly trap, spreading dogbane,
spreading rosy dogbane, American ipecac,
bitter dogbane, black Indian hemp, catch fly,
colicroot, common dog’s bane, honey bloom,
Indian hemp, milk ipecac, milk-weed,
rheumatism wood, wandering milkweed,
wallflower, western wallflower, wild ipecac,
black hemp, mountain hemp, hemp dogbane,
lechuguilla; Apocyn à Feuilles d'Androsème
(French)
Description: A perennial having one or several
greenish brown stems, one to three feet in
height.
The glabrous, completely smooth
leaves grow in wide-spaced pairs on thin,
strong, round stems and are oval-lanceolate
with small petioles that, like the main stems,
turn reddish by summer. The flowers are oval,
large, and pink white with a distinctive
drooping attitude; the pods 4-6 inches long, and
slender and also hang downwards. The flowers
are white, tinged with red, having five scales in
the throat of the corolla which secrete a sweet
liquid, attractive to flies. These scales are very
sensitive, and when touched bend inward,
imprisoning the insects. The roots are smooth
and straight, about the thickness of a large
pencil, and creep underground so that plants
two or three feet apart may spring from the
same root. The plant produces a milky sap.
Dogbanes tend to cross-pollinate. The roots
are used. Found along fences, borders of
woods, old fields, meadows, thickets and
stream banks. The milky root is found in
commerce in cylindrical, branched pieces,
about a quarter of an inch thick, reddish or
greyish brown outside, longitudinally wrinkled,
and having a short fracture and small pith.
There is scarcely any odor, and the taste is
starchy, afterwards bitter and acrid.
Cultivation: Hardy to USDA Zone 3. Prefers
full sun. Propagation is by seed, sown at 68ºF,
which germinates rapidly. Division is the most
successful method. Harvest the roots in late
fall and the green fruit in early spring.
History:
Apocynum is from the Latin.
Androsaemifolium is from the Greek
androsaimon, "man blood", refering to the
blood red juice of Hypericum perforatum, and
the Latin folius, "leaf"; hence "the dogbane
with leaves resembling the plant which is
named for its juices the color of human blood".
The juice of the dogbane is milky white.
Indians believed that eating the boiled root
would result in temporary sterility.
For
headache, the dried roots were powdered and
burned on live coals and the fumes inhaled.
Used against the biting of a mad dog, this plant
was given the name of Dogbane. All parts of
the plant contain a milky juice, therefore it was
also given the name “milkweed”. Supposed in
olden times to ensure the recovery of those
bitten by mad dogs.
The Menomini Indians believed that
this was a fine hunting magic. They broke a
piece from the stalk and sucked it. The magic
gained was supposed to coax a deer or buffalo,
or maybe even a wild turkey, the hunter’s view
and his weapon. Their neighbors, the Ojibwa,
believed that evil spirits were often around the
camp and that such evil spirits were a real
threat. In such a predicament the Ojibwa
looked for dogbane, dug the plant from the
ground, brushed the dirt from the roots, and
vigorously chewed a piece of the root. The evil
spirits could no longer threaten an Indian thus
protected.
Properties: Cathartic, diaphoretic, emetic,
expectorant, stimulant
Constituents: cardiac glycosides (including
strophanthin, androsin, apocynin, cymarin,
apocymarin and apobioside); apocynamarin
(stropanthidin), and several sterols.
Medicinal Uses: Famous as a safe cathartic and
heart tonic; it is also a powerful emetic and
diuretic. Bitter root was a popular remedy
among the Indians for syphilis.
Small doses act as a vasoconstrictor,
slowing and strengthening the heartbeat and
raising the blood pressure. It is a strong
diuretic, useful in cardiac dropsy and the like,
but authorities differ as to whether it increases
urine by irritation of the kidneys or dilation of
the renal artery, or both. One of the reasons
preventing its more frequent use in medicine is
the variability of absorption, metabolization,
effects and pharmacology.
It is used today when the hepatic organs
are sluggish. Its influence is slow but persistent
and extends through the gall ducts, gall cyst,
liver tubuli and also the muscular and mucous
membranes of the bowels and kidneys. It is
quite stimulating to the gall ducts, influencing
the excretion of bile, and especially valuable
when the stools are clay-colored, indicating a
lack of bile. In jaundice, take 3-5 drops of the
fluid extract every 2 or 3 hours and, if caused
by occlusion, add American mandrake. If the
pulse is below par, add a little capsicum. If
using large doses for gall stones, add some
ginger or aniseed. Because it influences a
discharge of bile and the bowels in the way it
does, a soft stool will result in about 6-8 hours.
This is quite in order where torpid conditions
are found, but is not good in irritated and
sensitive conditions.
A good liver compound is made as
follows: all in powder, white poplar bark and
golden seal 2 oz each, bitter root 1 ½ oz,
culvers root and ginger ½ ox each, capsicum ¼
oz. Mix and fill into #2 capsules and take 2
after each meal. Bitter root is recommended in
dropsy and hepatic troubles.
In dropsy,
combine bitter root with couch grass, gravel
root, or juniper, taking 5-8 drops of the fluid
extract every 2-4 hours. As a cardiac stimulant
in cardiac dropsy, take doses of 5-15 grams.
The green fruit was boiled and used for
a heart and kidney treatment.
Homeopathy: It has been used with success for
alcoholism; a total of one-fourth to one-half
teaspoon of the powdered root is drunk in tea
during the course of a day in small, frequent
doses.
This is supposed to aid in the
withdrawal symptoms but should not be
continued for more than a week or so
Toxicity: Dogbane must be used with caution
since it has definite toxic potential, but it is safe
in doses of a “00” capsule or less. A gram or
more will cause vomiting and several grams act
as a strong irritant to the mucous and serous
membranes. Eating the leaves has killed
livestock
Ritual Uses: Powers: Love. A bold plant that
enjoys standing tall in the field and that
primarily affects the heart, dogbane is of
Jupiter. In West European magick the flowers
have been made into love charms, and the
whole plant has been ritually used on Autumn
Eve to help make spirits visible. This magick
herb is said to enhance creativity
Other Uses: The down that is found in the
pods of the plant was once used to make a soft
stuffing for cushions and pillows. Because of
its counterirritating effects, dogbane can
stimulate hair growth through its vasodilation
and mild irritation of the follicles—a teaspoon
of the root is boiled in a cup of water and the
tea applied to the hair as a final rinse. The
tough, fibrous bark of all four species was used
by the Indians of California as a substitute for
hemp, in making twine, bags, fishing-nets and
lines, and linen.
References:
Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, Scott
Cunningham, Llewellwyn Publications, 1982,
ISBN: 978-0 87542-122-3
Fielder’s Herbal Helper for Hunters, Trappers
and Fishermen, Mildred Fielder, Winchester
Press, 1982; ISBN: 0-87691-361-3
Healing with Herbs, Henrietta A. Diers Rau,
Arco Publishing, 1986; ISBN: 0-668-03878-0
Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West,
Michael Moore, Museum of New Mexico
Press, 1979, ISBN: 0-89013-104-X
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