and ulcers.) Internally, the root can be used in a decoction for ulcers, lung troubles, coughing and nasal congestion, and as a gentle remedy for diarrhea. The known healing agent it contains is allantoin—a cell proliferant contained in both the leaves and the root.
Comfrey is also used for tanning leather and as a glue.
Comfrey
Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
Asteraceae
Some of the uses of dandelion are well known. The young leaves can be used in salads, boiled as nettles or cooked in soup (especially blanched). The dried leaves can be used to make herb beer or tea. The flowers can be used to decorate or flavour various cooked dishes or to make wine. The roots can be cooked as a vegetable. The crown of blanched leaf stems on top of the root is delicious. Old roots can be dried, roasted and ground for a coffee.
Dandelion greens are a blood tonic and a stimulant for the whole body. They have been found to have a pronounced stimulating effect on the digestive system, liver, kidneys and bowels.
Dandelion root is slightly laxative and has been used as a remedy for jaundice, skin diseases and eczema. The juice of the stem and flower is supposed to be a remedy for warts (touch the juice to the wart and allow it to dry).
Dandelion greens contain large amounts of vitamin A (7,000 international units/ounce); vitamins B, C and E; sodium, potassium and magnesium salts.
Dandelion root contains more of its active properties (taraxacin and inulin) in the autumn and should be gathered then. The root should be dried whole for about two weeks until hard and brittle, and (like any dried herb) kept in a dry place. Dandelion greens are best gathered before the flower stalks start.
Dandelion
Devil’s club
Oplopanax horridus
Araliaceae
This prickly shrub is an all-too-familiar sight in the backwoods near streams and rivers. The stalks are tall and thick with sharp spines that produce lingering pain on contact, and the leaves are maple-shaped and prickly. Greenish flowers develop into scarlet fruit.
The young stems can be eaten as a pot-herb, and the root can be peeled and chewed raw.
Medicinally, the plant is good for colds and rheumatism when the bark and thorns are peeled away and the stalk is used for tea. Baby talc can be made by drying and pulverizing the bark. The root bark of devil’s club has been found to reduce blood sugar and thus be effective in the treatment of diabetes.
The root is also reportedly excellent for treating staph infections (used both externally and internally). It is a strong laxative.
Elderberry
Sambucus spp.
Caprifoliaceae
Many people know the elder shrub from using its berries for elderberry wine. When in bloom in the summer, it is easily identified by its flat white head of flowers, which is about five to eight inches across. The leaflets are sharp-pointed, willow-like, opposite and usually in nines in the blueberry elder and fives and sevens in the blackberry elder. The blackberry elder is usually found above 4,000 feet; the blueberry elder is most common in the BC Interior. Redberry elderberries are not palatable.
Elderberries can be steeped raw in cold water for a refreshing drink, in hot wine with honey, or canned and drunk in the winter. They are one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C. The flower, too, can make a delicious beverage, usually a tea.
Elder leaves and flowers can be made into an ointment for bruises, sprains and wounds. Bruised or decocted, they are said to drive away flies and other insects. They also help in the treatment of poison ivy rash. The flowers can also be used for coughs, colds and sore throat (combined with honey and vinegar), as a laxative and as a general remedy and tonic.
Elder bark can be used to quickly cleanse the system through the bowels and bladder, and by vomiting. It contains sambunigrin—a cyanogenic glycoside—which is poisonous if absorbed. Hot elderberry wine with honey is a popular remedy for colds, and the berries steeped as tea are reportedly good for diarrhea.
Occultists claim elder is surrounded by a wide healing aura; it used to be common practice to plant an elder near the house as protection against disease and evil spirits, or to carry an elder twig for good luck and health.
Elderberry
False Solomon’s seal
Smilacina racemosa
Asparagaceae
False Solomon’s seal (or wild spinach, as it is known in the Slocan Valley) is found in damp, shady places throughout BC. A plume of fragrant, creamy flowers blooming in May and June tops the stem of two rows of alternate broad glossy leaves from 2.5 to 6 inches long. Greenish-red berries are ripe in late July and August.
Some say the berries are tasteless, but they seem to us to taste like the fresh leaves. Both the leaves and young shoots are delicious raw or as a pot-herb.
The thick fleshy rootstalk can be grated and made into a poultice for wounds. It is also said to be a laxative and a remedy for rheumatism. The seeds eaten in quantity cleanse the bowels.
False Solomon’s seal
Ferns
Dennstaedtiaceae
Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum pubescens) is the most wide-ranging fern in BC. Stems, unlike those of most ferns, do not cluster from a compact base. Leaf margins have lines of spore cases. Bracken fern is found in moist coniferous forests at low elevations from Vancouver Island to the Rockies. During early spring, the young shoots of bracken fern uncurl in juicy stalks called fiddleheads. These can be eaten raw, cooked like asparagus or used in soups. Roasted roots can also be eaten if the outer skin is stripped and the insides pounded to separate the fibre from the edible part. They contain much starch and are best dug in autumn. It is wise to avoid eating large amounts of raw fiddleheads because they contain an enzyme, thiaminase, that destroys thiamine in the body. This can result in vitamin B1 deficiency. (Cooking deactivates thiaminase.)
The rhizomes of swordfern (Polystichum munitum) can be roasted and used as food, as can those of bracken fern. Swordfern forms dark green symmetrical fronds up to three feet long. The pinnules, or side leaves, are sharp-pointed and sharp-toothed, and the underside is brownish from the twin rows of spore cases. Swordfern is found on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, and in coastal forests.
