Bleeding Heart

This weeks plant was Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa).

Bleeding heart can be found growing in moist forests, ravines, and stream banks at low to middle elevations. The plant is found from Southwest BC to Santa Cruz and along the Sierra Nevada crest from Fresno County northwards. Bleeding heart can be found growing sporadically in Alberta, Idaho and Montana in the wetter areas of the Rocky Mountains.

Bleeding heart grows from long succulent rhizomes that run just under the surface of the forest floor. Bleeding heart has long stemmed leaves, basal, that are very much divided into the ultimate segments which are narrowly oblong. Parsley like in appearance the leaves are also described as being fern like or feathery. Light green in color. Heart shaped inflated beautiful flower. Pinkish-purple to pale pink in color. Flowers grow in clusters of 5 to 15 atop stem. The fruits of the bleeding heart are pod-like capsules containing several black shining seeds with a small white, oil-rich appendage that is attractive to ants, which disperse the seeds.

The roots are gathered in the late summer and early fall, until the leaves have all turned. Gather the leaves in the summer, just after the seed pods are ripe. Sow the seeds as you gather the leaves to help in regrowth.

From our working with the field guides we found that:

Crushed plant tea makes a good hair rinse that makes the hair grow.

A tincture of the root is an anti-anxiety medicine and a bit of a narcotic. The isoquinoline alkaloids present in the plant are the same alkaloids we find in opiates.

American Indian groups chewed the raw roots to alleviate toothache.

The entire plant can be used in a poultice as a topical analgesic. The pain dulling action of the fresh plant can be sped up by applying a hot, moist towel with a little bit of tincture underneath.

As a tonic, Bleeding Heart increase appetite, stimulates liver function, and helps anabolic functions.

Tonics are substances to strengthen and prevent disease especially chronic disease.

Bleeding Heart tonic was at one time used as a tonic for syphilis. It was also used for impaired kidney function and mild tendency for edema.

Not for use during pregnancy. May induce a false positive for tests for opiates.

This weeks session was a good one. I really enjoy working with this plant, as I have found its uses as a wilderness first aid and an in town aid to dealing with the stresses of life to be beyond value.

I gathered this crop of roots from the yard of Chris Runyard. The ease of cultivating Bleeding Heart is another endearing quality of the plant. If placed in the proper aspect to the sun and in a decent quality soil, those creeping rhizomes will spread and you will find that after a few years, quite a patch has been formed.

I was able to stroll over to Chris's house an hour before session, gather up the plant, roots, leaves and all and then still have time to get some pizza before start time. Already my stress levels were reduced...and I did not need to drive anywhere.

I first started to experiment with Bleeding Heart back in 2001. Post 9-11 reality was becoming quite surreal and I had a one month old daughter at the time who refused to sleep through the night and a wife who refused to get up at 3:30 am. I would wake up, take some of the tincture, and take the most mellow, dreamy walks with my daughter as the chilly November nights saw the dog star Sirius rising to chase the heels of Orion.

I would hold my blanket wrapped daughter in my arms and sink into a mellow mood as I walked around the quiet streets of our neighborhood. She would always fall back asleep and then, I , quite relaxed, would fall asleep shortly thereafter.

When we get to the medicine taking portion of the yearly round of the Medicine Club, I will detail further experiments I have conducted with the plant. I have been very impressed with the various applications of Bleeding Heart for relaxing, healing, and calming the metaphorical heart.

Back to this weeks class...

We had Jon, Jes, Mikaela, Eva, Amitai, Chris, Marion, Gretchen, and Yael all in attendance. We went through he process of getting to know Bleeding Heart through our senses of touch, sight, and smell. A few people even chewed on the root to taste it.

We then poured through the field guides to identify the Bleeding Heart. Please note that Poison Hemlock shares a similar leaf shape!!! This could cause a deadly mix up if you were to confuse the early season leaves. Later on in the growth cycle, the two plants become quite distinguishable.

After a tea break, we did the two drawings of the plant. We drew both the leaves and the roots. I showed the class a picture of Jude Siegal, my teacher who taught me the spirit drawing method. We then went about the process of doing a spirit drawing for Bleeding Heart.

After the drawing sessions, the roots were removed from the leaf stems and taken downstairs to be washed. The clean roots were taken back upstairs and chopped up. The chopped roots were placed into a mason jar and some fine brandy was poured over the roots until the jar was full.

This concoction will now sit for the next six to twelve weeks as the medicine makes. After that time the plant material will be strained out and we will have a tincture of Bleeding Heart.

Thank you to all in attendance, I look forward to the next session!

False Solomon's Seal

This week's plant was False Solomon's Seal (Smilacena racemosa).

False Solomon's seal is a perennial plant that can be found growing in moist forest openings and clearings from North Carolina to the Oregon Coast north through to Alaska and south beyond the Bay Area of California. In the mountain west, on the east side of the Cascade Mountains it is found above the Ponderosa belt in all higher, moist mountains from 5,000 to 10,000 feet. West of the Cascade Crest, the plant is widespread at low to sub-alpine elevations.

False Solomon's seal has ovate, clasping leaves that grow from a central stalk in an alternating pattern. The plant grows from creeping rhizomes that can form substantial clumps. The white six sided flower is very fragrant and looks like the magical seal of Solomon, though this is not how the plant got its name. The term 'false' is in relation to its east coast cousin that looks similar in root, leaf and stalk appearance.

The other name for this plant is Solomon's plume, a name I will use for the rest of this blog. I cant bare to call a plant false.

We investigated the medicinal properties of the root.

Medicinally, the plant is an astringent and an anti-inflammatory. An astringent is an agent that causes tissue to contract. As an anti-inflammatory, Solomon's plume has a long history of use as a treatment for sore throats. It also has a soothing, relaxing, and sedative effect on the lungs and bronchial tubes.

A poultice of the root has been used to treat boils, bruises, and poison oak.

Solomon's plume root can be chewed and swallowed for upset stomachs, ulcers, and constipation.

First Nations peoples of both coasts used a root tea for rheumatism and chronic back pain. The plant was also known as a blood purifier.

The root can be chewed for gum irritation.

This week's plant was gathered by myself off of the skyline trail in the northern portion of Forest Park.

This week's gathering saw many new faces at the Medicine Club. I was really excited to be facilitating the club again and it was cool to see that my flier efforts had paid off and that there were new folks interested in herbalism and the Medicine Club.

Things went pretty smoothly at first and then got downright sticky by the end.

We went through the process of meeting Solomon's plume by investigating all of its parts from the creeping rhizomes to the wilting berries. We found its name by identifying the plant from the field guides. We investigated the Hooker's fairy bells and Twisted Stalk in order to know Solomon's seal's look alike plants.

We drew the plant from both sides of our brains, fostering an analytical and intuitive recognition of the look of Solomon's plume. We then took a break and washed the roots for medicine making.

The group took turns chopping and dicing the roots until we had some nice piles of root to put in the pot. The group then watched with excited eyes as the honey was poured into the pot.

Earlier in the week, I had decided to finally make the cough syrup from Michael Moore's book, Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. It's a fairly straight forward recipe that calls for one part Solomon's plume and four parts honey.

Earlier in the day, I had bought a hotplate from for the Medicine Club. That night was the first time I had used it. I guess it gets quite a bit hotter than I had given it credit for.

I plugged in the unit and turned it up to high with the pot filled with honey and root on top of the hotplate. I then turned my back on it and started to talk more about the various attributes of Solomon's plume that can be found on the web.

Eric was the first to comment upon the bubbling mess on the horizon as he pointed out that the pot was about to overflow.

To the class's credit, we were all very quick about moving the pot to safety. A decent amount of honey boiled over the top of the pot, some of it dripped on the shelf and then some more poured down the wall. What a sweet sticky mess clean up was!

Everyone seemed in good humor about the incident. Next time, I 'm putting the pot in the middle of class and am keeping a better eye on things. Seat of the pants medicine making requires the utmost attention of the practitioners!

On the upside, I was so concerned for the well-being of the medicine syrup that I gave it plenty of time to simmer that night and the next day, I simmered it some more so that we would haver no water in the honey...it can lead to fermentation.

The mixture was strained at the end of Thursday and looks great. Sore throats be warned!

Thank you to those in attendance!!!: Jon, jess, Mikaela, Eva, Chris, Megan, Eric, and Andrew. You folks make the Medicine Club possible.

Welcome to the blog of the Medicine Club. The intent of this blog is to document the week by week progress of the club as we explore medicine making and the practice of herbalism.

The Medicine Club was in session for a year before this blog was created. The intent of the blog is to formalize the workings of the Medicine Club and make our findings and our studies open to the non-attending public.

Throughout the seasons of growth and harvest, we work with a new plant every week making medicine, understanding the folklore, and unearthing interesting information regarding the plants of the week. As part of the study process, we utilize two ways of drawing the plants we work with, one an intuitive drawing and the other an analytical realistic drawing. Throughout the dormant season we work with plant medicine testing and tasting.

Here what members of the club have had to say so far:

"A good way to start learning about herbs that is laid back and not too intense".—Chaz

"This class changed my perspective through references to mythology and the practice of spirit drawings. Dave brought information out of the ground and into my imagination.”—Sandra

"I like plants and I want to learn about their healing properties. Healing work with plants…that sounds kind of fun"—Sarah

"I value learning from someone who can add to my store of knowledge and I am interested in natural medicine. Using local plants for healing is such a gift. This is a resource that I want to learn more about"—Max

"Groovy...I like the people"—Marian.

"I want to get a deeper relationship with our native plants and I would like to understand the medicinal properties"—Logan

“As a native Portlander, I am a statistical anomaly and I feel like I need to have a stronger root with this land by understanding the local floral and medicines.—Melissa

“Dave teaches an adequate/marginal class”—Chris “Happy Fish” Runyard