Sorrel is a perennial plant that is very common in damp meadows and along roads and shorelines in Europe and Asia but is found only sparingly in North America.Astringent, diuretic, laxative. Sorrel root has astringent properties, and a decoction made from it has been used for hemorrhage in the stomach and for excessive menstruation. A tea made from the leaves and stem is diuretic and may be helpful for gravel and stones. For mouth and throat ulcers, a tea made from leaves and flowers and taken with honey has been recommended.

Sorrel leaves are sometimes used like spinach, particularly for "spring cures". Externally, a tea made from the herb can be used as a wash or fomentation to treat skin diseases and problems.

Solomen's seal is a perennial plant which grows in woods and thickets in eastern North America, Europe, and Asia. Its stems grow 1 to 3 feet high, whose lower half is naked and upper half leafy. The fruit is a blue or blue-black berry.

Astringent, emetic, tonic. The rootstock of Solomen's seal has found application mainly for external problems. It makes a good poultice for bruises, inflammations, and wounds and a good wash for skin problems and blemishes. Ithas also been used as a wash to counteract the effects of poison ivy. American Indians made a tea of the rootstock to take for women's complaints and general internal pains.

Speedwell is a small perennial plant which grows in dry meadows, fields, and woods over the eastern half of North America, as far south as North Carolina and Tennessee. The light blue flowers have violet streaks and grow in dense, axillary, spikelike racemes from May to August. The fruit is an obovate, compressed, hairy capsule.

Diuretic, expectorant, stomachic, tonic. Although speedwell has a reputation, especially in Europe, as a healer of all illnesses, it is used primarily as an expectorant for respiratory problems. It has also been used for stomach ailments, migrain headache, and as a gargle for mouth and throate sores. The fresh juice taken in large quantities is helpful for gout, and it can also be used externally to relive chronic skin problems.

American Spikenard is a perennial plant found in rich woodlands in eastern North America, as far south as Georgia and west to south Dakota and Missouri. Its  thick, fleshy rootstock features long, thick roots and produces one or more branched stems growing up to 6 feet high. Its small greenish-white flowers grow in panicled umbels during July and August.

Diaphoretic, expectorant, stimulant. The powdered root has been used in medicine for rheumatism, asthma and coughs, as well as externally for skin diseases and problems. Taking spikenard tea for sometime befor labor is said to make childbirth easier. It was also used to help with backache, wounds, swelling, bruises, inflammations, and chest pain.

Spotted cranebill is a perennial plant common in woodlands over most of North America, especially the eastern half. The stout, horizontal rootstock produces a hairy stem, growing from 1 to 2 feet high, the rose-purple flowers grow in pairs on axillary peduncles from April to July.

Astringent, styptic. Spotted cranebill root is a strong astringent for both internal and external use. Internally, it is helpful against diarrhea and hemorrhage. It also makes a good mouthwash and gargle for sore throat, gum problems, and throat and mouth sores.

The powdered root can be used to stop external bleeding.

Norway spruce is an evergreen tree found in central and northern Europe; many varieties of it are cultivated. The stem, covered with scaly, red-brown bark, grows as high as 130 feet. The winter buds are reddish or light brown and produce young shoots at the tips of the branches in May.

Calmative, diaphoretic, expectorant. A tea made from the young shoots of Norway spruce and taken warm is helpful for coughs, catarrh, and influenza. Taken hot, it acts to promote perspiration. For bronchitis, try a vapor bath of the young shoots; and either the shoots or the needles can be used to make a calming bath additive.

Star anise is a small tree which grows wild in China, Japan, and Korea and is also grown in the southeastern syates of the U.S. its stem has aromatic white bark and grows from 20 to 35 feet high. The fruit is a cluster of dry, woody, gray-brown follicles united in the form of a star.

Carminative, stimulant, stomachic. The seed of star anise is used essentially the same way as is anise seed; to promote digestion and appetite and to relieve flatulence. It also makes a good additive to other medicines to improve their taste.

Star grass ia a native North American perennial half which grows in grassy or sandy woodlands in the eastern Mexico. Its thick, fibrous rootstock produces a rosette of yellow-green, lanceolate, spreading basal leaves. The stalk reaces 1 to 3 feet in height, Flowering time is from May to August.

Bitter tonic, narcotic. A decoction or tincture of star grass root has been used for flatulent colic and for other digestive problems. It has been recommended for menstrual problems such as dysmenorrhea andmenorrhagia.

Sticklewort is a perennial plant found all over the world in woods, fields, and waste places and along fences and roadsides.Its reddish, creeping rootstock produces a hairy stem from 1 to 5 feet high. The small yellow flowers grow in a long raceme at the top of the stem during July and August.

Astringent, vulnerary. Sticklewort makes a good gargle for inflammations in the mouth and throat. Taken internally, a tea made from sticklewort is useful for kidney, liver, and spleen problems and for gallstones. It is sometimes recommended, for chronic gallbladder problems which are accompanied by excess acidity in the stomach.

Stillingia is a perennial plant which is a native of the pine barrens and sandy soils of the southern states of the U.S. its stem, growing from 2 to 4 feet high, contains an acrid, milky juice and bears alternate, sessile leaves that have a some-what leathery texture. The yellow, petalless flowers grow in a terminal spike with the female flowers at the base. The fruit is a three-lobed capsule.

Cathartic, diuretic, emetic. A decoction of the rootstock was once used to treat obstinate skin problems and to help clear up continuing pain and ulcerations after a mercurial treatment for syphilis. In large doses, stillingia causes vomiting and diarrhea.

Storksbill is an annual plant native to the Mediterranean region and widley naturalized in dry and sandy soils of the eastern, southwestern, and western U.S. where it is often grown for hay. The purple or pink,geranium like flowers bloom from early spring to late Autumn.

Astringent, hemostatic. Storksbill has been used primarily against bloody discharges from the uterus and to treat difficult or excessive menstruation, particularly when inflammation of the uterus is involved. Small doses are said to raise blood pressure, and in large doses to lower it.

Sumac is a North American tree or shrub found growing from 10 to 20 feet high in thickets and waste places. Dense panicles of small, greenish flowers bloom from June to August. The fruit is a small, sticky, finely hairy, bright red erect cluster ripening in the fall.

Astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, refrigerant, tonic. A tea made from sumac bark or leaves is good as a gargle for sore throat and as a remedy for diarrhea and leucorrhea. A tea of leaves and berries can be used for urinary problems, particularly inflammation of the bladder. It can also relieve the irritation of poison ivy, and they used a decoction of the fruit as a wash to stop bleeding after childbirth.

Sweet cicely is a perennial plant found growing in the woodlands of Canada, Alaska, and southward to Colorado and Georgia. The thick, bundle roots produce branched stems from 1 to 3 feet tall. The inconspicuous white flowers grow in loose compound umbels during May and June. The whole plant has an aniselike odour.

Carminative, expectorant, stomachic. As indicated by the categories, sweet cicely root is used much like anise. Take it for flatulence, mucous congestion, indigestion, and lack of appetite.

Sweet fern is a fernlike deciduous shrub which grows on dry hills from Nova Scotia to North Carolina and Maryland. Its slender, reddish-brown branches grow up to 5 feet high. Male flowers grow in cylindrical catkins, female in egg-shaped catkins that develope into clusters of brown, shining ovoid nutlets.

Astringent, tonic. The primary use of sweet fern has been to relieve diarrhea. It can also be used for other complaints where an astringent is called for, including skin problems. American Indians soaked the leaves in water to make a wash for poison ivy irritation.

Sweet flag is a perennial that grows more or less abundantly throughout the northern hemisphere, inhabiting pond edges, marshes, swamps, and the banks and rivers and streams. It grows up to 5 feet long, with sword shaped leaves from 2 to 6 feet high.

carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, sedative, stomachic. Sweet flag is particularly known for its beneficial effects on the stomach. It stimulates appetite and helps to relieve acute and chronic dyspepsia, gastritis, and hyperacidity. Chewing the root is also said to stop pyrosis, the discharge of an acrid liquid from the stomach into the throat. For smokers, however, chewing the dried root tends to cause mild nausea, which makes good use for breaking the smoking habbit

Sweet gum is a deciduous, forest-dwelling tree native to the eastern and southern areas of the U.S. Growing as high as 150 feet, the tree is covered with rough, gray bark; but the branches are reddish-brown and often have corky ridges. The fruit consists of woody capsules growing in round, spiny heads an inch or more across which stay on the tree through the winter.

The balsam from sweet gum has antiseptic properties which have made it an effective external medication for wounds and skin problems. For external use, it is usually made into anointment with lard or oil, it can also be used for coughs and respiratory congestion due to colds . The bark has been used to relieve diarrhea and dysentery.

Sycamore maple is a large deciduous tree found in mountainous and upland areas of Europe and western Asia andcultivated to some extent in the U.S. It grows as high as 100 feet, and its spreading branches bear opposite, five-lobed, coarsely crenate-serrate leaves which resemble those of the sycamore tree. The Yellowish-green flowers flowers grow in hanging racemes, producing the winged fruit characteristic of the maples.

The bark of sycamore maple has mild astringent properties and has been used to make a wash for skin problems and an eyewash for sore eyes. The inner bark , contains the sweet sap, can be used as a dressing for wounds.

Tamarind is an evergreen tree which grows in tropical climates. It grows up to 80 feet high, and its trunk, covered with shaggy, brownish-gray bark, may reach 25 feet in diameter. The pale Yellow flowers have petals with red veins and grow in racemes at the end of the branches. Flowering time in the northern hemisphere is during April and May, the fruit is a cinnamon-colored oblong pod from 3 to 8 inches long, with a thin, brittle shell enclosing a soft, brownish, acidulous pulp.

The fruit of tamarind is a mild laxative. In the tropics, it is commonly eaten as food and made into cooling beverages. It makes a refreshing drink for those ill with a fever, the leaves are said to have anthelmintic properties.

Tansy is an aromatic, perennial plant which is cultivated and also found growing wild along ridges and roadsides and in waste places.It grows in Europe, in the U.S. from the Atlantic seaboard westward to Minnesota, and in Oregon and Nevada. It grows 1 to 5 feet high, and blooms from July to September, the golden-yellow flowers grow in terminal, flattened cymes. The fruit is an achene.

A weak anthelmintic and mild irritant, tansy can be poisonous even when appliedexternally; therefore, it is little used. Tansy has been used to promote suppressed menstruation; a tea made from the entire plant is used to induce abortion, it can also be used for skin problems, blemishes, bruises, sprains and rheumatism. CAUTION An overdose  of tansy oil can be fatal.

Tarragon is a green, glabrous perennial shrub found in sunny, dry areas in the western U.S., southern Asia, and Siberia. In Europe it is cultivated for its leaves, which are used as a seasoning. The small, drooping, whitish-green or yellow flowers are almost globular and bloom from May to July in terminal panicles.

Diuretic, emmenagogue, hypnotic, stomachic. In popular use, tarragon serves to relieve digestive problems and catarrhal difficulties, as a diuretic to stimulate the action of the kidneys, and as an emmenagogue to promote the onset of menstruation. The tea stimulates the appetite, especially when lost through illness, tea befor bed helps overcome insomnia.

Thuja is an evergreen pine tree, which grows in swampy areas and along stream banks from Quebec to Manitoba south to Illinois and north to Carolina. It is cultivated in Europeean parks and gardens for hedgerows and windbreaks. Thr tree reaches a height of 70 feet and is 2 to 4  feet in diameter.

Thuja is useful as a counter-irritant in the relief of muscular aches and pains, including those of rheumatism. It can be applied externally in a salve for warts and other skin problems, as well as for rheumatic pains. A tea from the inner bark can help relieve headaches,  heart pain,  reduce swelling and promote menstruation.

Tormentil ia a perennial European plant found in damp meadows, pastures, hills and marshes. The irregular, knobby rootstock is dark brown on the putside, white inside, turning red on exposure to air. The plant has several fine-haired, branched stems from 4 to 16 inches tall. The yellow, four-petaled flowers bloom on long stalks from May to August.

The decoction and tincture is used for diarrhea, enteritis, and inflammation of the mucos membranes in the mouth. The tincture is also good for sealing hemorrhages, for leucorrhea, and for fevers. Diluted it makes a good mouthwash and gargle for sore throat. The root, as an excellent astringent, is used for chronic and infectious catarrhal enteritis, dysentery, and jaundice.

Turkey corn is an indigenous perennial plant found in rich soil on hills, among rocks and old, decayed timber in the eastern U.S. from New York to North Carolina. The tuberous root produces a scape 6 to 12 inches high and a set of basal, somewhat triternate leaves, 10 to 15 inches in height. In the early spring, nodding, reddish-purple flowers bloom at the top of the scape.

Its tonic properties are similar to those of yellow gentian, colombo, and other pure bitters. Specifically, it is beneficial for stomach problems such as indigestion and loss of appetite. It is also used as diuretic for kidney difficulties, and it can be taken for scrofula and all other skin diseases.

The turnip is a biennial plant cultivated for its flat or globular, white, soft-fleshed tuber. The turnips roots are located on the slender tap-root beneath the tuber. The erect, branched stem bears alternate, clasping leaves. The plant has racemes of small, bright-yellow flowers, and its fruit is a small pod with a slender beak.

Ointment and poultice. Applied in a salve, the tuber can be used for chilblains.

Turtlebloom is an herbaceous perennial plant found in wet ground from Newfoundland to Florida and westward to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas. Its simple, erect, square stem reaches a height of 1 to 3 feet. Blooming from July to September, the white flowers, often tinged with pink or magenta, grow in dense terminal or axillary spikes.

Turtlebloom is beneficial for a weak stomach and indigestion, general debility, constipation, and torpid liver. It also stimulates the appetite, and in small doses is a good tonic during convalescence. Turtlebloom is an effective anthelmintic. Externally, it is used for sores and eczema, it can also help with itching and irritation of piles.

Twin leaf is a perennial plant found in limestone soils and in woods near rivers from Ontario westward to Wisconsin and southward to Virginia and Tennessee. Twin leaf blooms from April to May, the plant is only 6 to 9 inches tall in flower, but is double that height in fruit.

Antispasmodic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, tonic. Twin leaf is beneficial for chronic rheumatism, nervous and spasmodic problems, neuralgia, and cramps. In small doses, it is used as an expectorant and tonic; in large doses, as an emetic. As a  gargle, it is useful for throat infections. Applied externally as a poultice or fomentation, it will relieve pain anywhere.

Virginia snakeroot is a perennial plant indigenous to the rich, dry woods of the eastern U.S. Its fibrous, horizontal rootstock produces many thin roots, as well as a wavy stem that reaches 1 to 3 feet high.

Bitter tonic, stimulant. small doses of virginia snakeroot will stir a languid appetite and promote proper digestion, but large doses will cause vomiting, diarrhea, vertigo, and other unpleasant effects. In proper doses it is also said to stimulate blood circulation. At one time, Virginia snakeroot was perhaps the most highly valued of snakebite remedies.

Virgin's bower is a climbing vine found along streambanks, bushes, and fences in the eastern and central states of the U.S.

Diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant, vesicant. An infusion of the leaves and flowers of virgin's bower is said to relieve even severe headaches. For external use, virgin's bower is sometimes combined with other plants to make ointments or poultices for sores, skin ulcers and itching skin. CAUTION: Virgin's bower contains acrid substances which can cause severe skin irritation. Sensitive people can get dermatitis from handling the plant.

Wafer ash is a native American shrub found in moist places and along the edges of woods in the eastern states of the U.S. Growing as high as 25 feet. The fruit is an oblongorbicular samara which is winged all round.

Tonic. A tea made from the root bark of the wafer ash has a beneficial effect on the stomach and is often tolerated when other tonic remedies are not. In particular, it helps to arouse a sluggish appetite. The leaves have also sometimes been credited with medicinal properties, as anthelmintics and as applications to wounds.

Wahoo is a deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 25 feet high, found in moist woods and along riverbanks in the eastern U.S., as far west as Montana and Texas

Cardiac, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, tonic. Wahoo was a popular diuretic drug during the nineteenth century. It was also recommended for chest and lung congestion, indigestion, and fever. After the discovery early this century that wahoo has a digitalis-like effect on the heart, it also became popular as a cardiac drug. CAUTION: The leaves and fruit of wahoo can cause various symptoms of poisoning, such as nausea, cold sweat, and prostration.

Black walnut is a Temperate Zone forest tree found in the eastern U.S. its bark is rough and dark; the leaves are pinnately compound, with ovate lanceolate, serrate leaflets. Male and female flowers grow in seperate catkins. The fruit is a deeply grooved nut inside a spherical rind.

Bark: astringent. Leaves: detergent. Rind: herpatic. An infusion or decoction of the bark can be taken for diarrhea and to stop the production of milk. Use it also as a douche for leucorrhea and as a mouthwash for soreness in the mouth or inflamed tonsils. The leaves can be used to make a cleansing wash, and the green rind of the fruit makes a good poultice to get rid of ringworm.

Water avenes is a hairy perennial plant found mostly in moist and wet places from Colorado and New Mexico northeastward, and in Canada, Europe, and Asia. Its woody rootstock produces a simple, erect stem from 1 to 3 feet high with small, sessile, simple or three-cleft leaves.  At the top of the stem grow three to five  purplish flowers blooming from May to July.

Astringent, stomachic, tonic. The rootstock of water avens makes a tasty and effective remedy for diarrhea and dysentery when taken with milk and sugar. It also acts to improve appetite and digestion. An infusion made from the whole plant can be used to clear up respiratory congestion and to counteract nausea.

Native to Europe and naturalized in the U.S., watercress is a perennial plant which thrives in clear, cold water and is found in ditches and streams everywhere. It is cultivated for its leaves, which are principally used as salad greens or garnishes.

Diuretic, expectopant, purgative, stimulant, stomachic. Watercress is recommended for gout, mild digestive disturbances, and catarrh of the upper respiratory tract. Very effective as an expectorant, it is also beneficial for tuberclosis, anemia, eczema. its high vitamin C content makes it a good illness preventive. in addition, the richness of its mineral, iron, and iodine content stimulates glandular activity.

Water eryngo is a native perennial herb found in swamps and low wetlands from New Jersey to Georgia.

Diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, stimulant. Water eryngo root is very useful when chewed to promote the flow of saliva and thus aid digestion. In large doses, it acts as an emetic. Originally a folk remedy, late nineteenth-century medical doctors commonly prescribes it as an expectorant, stimulant or diuretic. It has also been applied as a remedy for chronic laryngitis and bronchitis, dropsy, stones, inflammation of the sexual and urinary organs, and impotence.

Wax myrtle is an evergreen shrub or tree found in woods and fields from New Jersey to Florida and Texas, as a tree it grows as high as 35 feet. It has a smooth, grey bark and yellowish flowers that grow in scaly catkins, the fruit is a grayish-white, round, drupe-like nut covered with a waxy crust.

Astringent, tonic. The bark, leaves, and wax from the fruit of the wax myrtle have been made into astringent teas, gargles, and douches for diarrhea, hemorrhages, sore throat, puoltices for wounds, cuts, and bruises. Powdered wax myrtle can be used as a snuff for nasal congestion. Wax myrtle tea has also been recommended for jaundice and scrofula.

White pine is a large North American evergreen tree found growing from Newfoundland to Georgia and Iowa. Reaching a height of 150 feet or more, the tree is covered with deeply fissured, gray-brown bark.

Expectorant. The inner bark of white pine has long been a standard remedy for coughs and congestion due to colds, as a tea or as an ingredient in cough syrup. This goes back to the American Indians, some of whom also used the resinous sap and the young leaves as cold remedies. Some tribes used the inner bark or the sap as a poultice or dressing for wounds and sores.

Wild clover is a perennial plant common in meadows all over North America and Europe. Its short rootstock produces several reddish stems, 1 to 2 feet high with close pressed whitish hairs. The rose-purple or magenta flowers grow in a dense, ovoid head subtended by a leaf.

This common clover has been a popular plant for European folk medicine. A tea made from the flowering tops is believed to stimulate liver and gallbladder activity and is taken for constipation and sluggish appetite. It is sometimes recommended for those convalescing from stomach operations who have no appetite. A syrupy extract of the flowers can be used as an external treatment for persistant sores. A poultice of the plant can be tried for athletes foot and other skin problems.

Native to Europe and naturalized in the U.S., the English daisy is cultivated and also grows wild in lawns, meadows, and other grassy places.

Anodyne, antispasmodic, demulcent, digestive, expectorant, laxative, purgative, tonic. Wild daisy is most often used as a gentle laxative. Its fresh flowers are anodyne and help heal inflamed swellings and burns. It is also beneficial for colds and chest problems, coughs, and mucos congestion. The tea is good for stomach and intestinal problems where some sort of internal fermentation is the source, also for catarrh, colic, and liver, kidney, and bladder problems.

Wild indigo is a succulent perennial plant found in dry soil in the eastern and central states of the U.S. its woody rootstock produces a round, branched stem from 2 to 4 feet high. Bright yellow flowers grow in numerous terminal racemes, blooming from June to September.

Antiseptic, astringent, emetic, purgative, stimulant. Wild indigo has found application primarily as an external remedy as an antiseptic wash or lotion for wounds, sores, skin ulcers, and eczema. Strong doses of the root bark taken internally have purgative and emetic action.

Wild jalop is a native North American perennial plant found in dry soil from Ontario to Florida and as far west as Michigan and Texas. Its large, fleshy, tuberous root, often 2 feet long, produces several round, purplish, trailing or somewhat climbing stems. The large, funnel-shaped, white flowers have dark purple throats and bloom from May to September.

Cathartic. Wild jalap root is a strong cathartic which is usually mixed with less drastic herbs in laxative preperations. The root has also been made into preperations for external use against skin diseases, including ringworm.

Wild Oregon Grape is an evergreen shrub found in mountain areas on wooded slopes below 7000 feet from British Columbia to Idaho, southward to Oregon and California. Native to North America, it was introduced into Europe as a cultivated plant and has been naturalized there.

Diuretic, laxative, tonic. According to Europeean folk medicine, Wild Oregon grape is a "blood purifier". It is beneficial for scrofulous and chronic skin conditions, constipation, and rheumatism. In homeopathic practice, the tincture is used for all sorts of skin diseases, including acne, eczema, herpes, and psoriasis.

Wild strawberry is a perennial plant found mainly in forests, clearings, and shady roadsides in Europe and northern Asia; but a variety grows also in fields and along roadsides in eastern North America.

Astringent, diuretic, tonic. The leaves and rootstock of wild strawberry are astringent and diuretic. A tea made from them can be used for diarrhea, dysentery, and hematuria, as well as for gravel and other problems in the urinary tract. Used both internally and externally at the same time, such a tea is sometimes effective against eczema and acne. Fresh strawberry juice makes a good refrigerant for feverish illness. Leaf tea is said to be a good tonic for convalescents and for children.

Wild yam is a perennial vine which grows in the U.S. from Rhode Island to Minnesota, Florida and Texas. It is 5 to 18 feet long and found twining in thickets and hedges and over bushes and fences.

Antispasmodic, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant. Wild yam is diuretic, expectorant, and possibly emetic in large doses. It was once commonly prescribed for bilious colic. Wild yam is said to be soothing to the nerves and beneficial for neuralgia and pains in the urinary tract. Some have considered it an antispasmodic and recommended it for cramps. During pregnancy, small frequent doses will help allay nausea.

Willow is a deciduous tree found in moist places in North Africa, central Asia, and in Europe, from where it was introduced into the northeastern U.S., covered with rough, gray bark, the tree grows up to 75 feet high.

The ability of willow bark to alleviate pain and reduce fever, it also reduces inflammation and makes an effective treatment for articular rheumatism. It has been recommended for internal bleeding, heartburn, stomach ailments, also gargle for gum and tonsil inflammations.

A deodorizing washing liquid can be made from a solution of willow bark mixed with borax.

Witch grass is a perennial grass, 1 to 3 feet high, found as a weed in meadows, fields, and waste places. Native to Europe and naturalized in the U.S., it is more prevalent and troublesome in the eastern states.

Witch grass may be used freely, and large and frequent doses are considered good tonic or "spring medicine".The infusion was once used to treat cystitis, pyelitis, and gonorrhea. The tea or juice has been used for dropsy, jaundice, and gastro intestinal catarrh, and for bladder, liver, gallbladder, spleen problems, gout, rheumatic problems, diarrhea, stomach problems, and the congestion of colds.

Woodruff is a perennial plant, 6 to 12 inches high, found in woods and gardens in Europe, Asia, and North Africa; it is cultivated in the U.S.

Woodruff is beneficial for jaundice and recommended where a tendency toward gravel and bladder stones exists. It also acts as an anodyne for migraine and neuralgia, and as a calmative for nervous conditions such as restlessness, insomnia, and hysteria. The tea relieves stomach pain, regulates, heart activity, and is diuretic and lightly diaphoretic.

Wood sorrel is a creeping perennial plant found in cool, shady woods from Nova Scotia to North Carolina and as far west as Saskatchewan, as well as in Europe.

A cold infusion of wood sorrel can be helpful for heartburn and for mild liver and digestive problems. It can also be used externally as a wash for skin problems. In spring, the young leaves are sometimes added to soup or eaten with spinach or salad as a "spring cure" to invigorate the organism, arouse appetite, and promote digestion. CAUTION: Wood sorrel leaves contain oxalic acid. Excessive doses can cause internal irritation, resulting in hemorrhage and diarrhea.

Naturalized from Central America, wormseed is an annual or perennial plant found in waste places in almost all parts of the United States.

The oil of chenopodium, derived from the seeds and other overground parts of wormseed is an excellent anthelmintic for roundworms, hookworms, and other intestinal parasites, though it is not as effective against tapeworms.

Either the oil or an infusion of the seeds with milk can be used in treating worms in children, wormseed is also used as a cardiac stimulant, also to promote secretions of the skin and kidneys.

Woundwort is a perennial plant found as a very common weed in open woods, lawns, fields, and waste places in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Blooming from May to October, the fruit is an ovoid, smooth, angled nutlet.

As a tea, woundwort is beneficial for internal wounds; and as a wash, for external wounds. It has also been used as a gargle for throat irritations, including pharyngitis, and for stomatitis and thrush. As an astringent, it is useful for hemorrhage and diarrhea. It is excellent for fits and convulsions, and will expel worms. 

Yellow gentian is an herbaceous perennial plant found in mountain meadows and pastures in Europe and Asia Minor and under cultivation in the U.S. ringed and forked, the thick, wrinkled root is brown on the outside and yellow on the inside. Blooming from July to August, the flowers grow in whorls of 3 to 10 axillary blossoms near the top of the stem. The fruit is an oblong, two-valved capsule.

Yellow gentian is excellent for improving appetite and digestion and for strengthening the activity of the stomach, it can also help with stomachache, heartburn, indigestion, catarrhal gastritis with diarrhea, and vomiting.