A Plant that Shines in the Winter: Coneflowers?

For our honeymoon, Mr. Red House took me to Italy.  Well, I don't usually get sick, but when I do, it's usually when I'm away from home (that's how my luck goes).  I wasn't feeling well there in Italy, so after attempting communication with an Italian pharmacist, they gave me a bottle labeled 'Echinacea'.  Being not nearly as an experienced gardener as I am now, I assumed 'Echinacea' was Italian for 'Antibiotics.'

It was quite a while before I found out that 'Echinacea' was, well, actually Latin for 'Coneflower', a genus of plants native to North America that is beloved by many gardeners for its beautiful flowers and hardiness...

Monarch butterfly on a Purple Coneflower

Now you can find Echinacea supplements for sale in just about every grocery store and drug store, touted as a boost for the immune system.  A lot of press has been given to Echinacea as a treatment to help cure or relieve symptoms of the common cold and flu - a big interest here during the winter flu season!

But does it actually work?

dried and powdered Echinacea purpurea

Well, modern studies seem to be quite mixed on the subject.  Various Native American tribes first used Echinacea angustifolia (also known as Narrow Leaf Coneflower) as a treatment for coughs and sore throats (which could be caused by colds), as well as for pain relief for such things as headaches, toothaches, and snake bites.  Apparently they first learned to use it from watching elk, who would search for and eat this plant when they were sick or wounded.

The blooms of Echinacea angustifolia (photo source US Department of Agriculture)

Modern studies have shown that taking Echinacea does increase the number of white blood cells and does boost the activity of immune cells.  But does that translate to curing your cold or helping you get over the flu faster?  That's where the studies disagree.  Some clinical trials have shown that people who take Echinacea as soon as they have cold or flu symptoms can reduce the severity and length of the sickness.  However, the results of other trials have shown that Echinacea was no better than a placebo.

So what's going on?  Well, it doesn't help that these supplements differ wildly in type, amount, and preparation.  Different supplement companies use different cultivars of Echinacea.  Some use the larger rooted Echinacea angustifolia  (Narrow Leaf Coneflower), others use the more easily cultivated Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower), and some even use Echinacea pallida (Narrow Petal Coneflower).  Different varieties are made up of slightly different chemical compounds.

Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'
(I wonder if all these new named cultivars of Coneflowers also have the same medicinal properties.)

Also, different supplement companies also use different parts of the plant.  Traditionally, Native Americans chewed the roots or mashed the roots to make a poultice.  Echinacea sold at your local drug store could contain the roots, the stem, the flower, or a mix of everything.

I'm assuming by 'Aerial Part', they mean 'the flowers'.

Add all that to the fact that you can take Echinacea in the form of a powder, tincture, tea, ointment, or who knows what else, and I can see why the results of all these scientific studies seem to be all over the place!  More good, comprehensive studies are needed - but that takes money, and it is usually the companies selling the product that is willing to fund (and conduct!) these studies.

Another issue is that some people are over-harvesting wild Echinacea for the herbal industry at a faster pace than some of these wild species can repopulate.  Ack!

So did the Echinacea pills work for me in Italy?  I think so - at least, I recovered quickly and enjoyed the rest of our stay in Italy.  And I kept taking the Echinacea at various times as an immune booster when I felt myself getting sick.  In fact, I just recently took Echinacea to help me recover from a cold quickly.   For me, it does seem to help... or if it's the placebo effect, at least it convinces my mind that I'm feeling better, right?

Has anyone else tried Echinacea and found it to to help or not to help?

Maybe this summer I should dry and powder some of my garden Coneflower plants so I'll be all set for next winter's cold and flu season...


ps. Side effects of taking Echinacea seem to be pretty rare, but still, people allergic to echinacea, people with autoimmune disorders, and people taking certain medications shouldn't take it.  And please don't mix some Echinacea into your baby's bottle saying that, 'Indie from the Red House Garden seemed to think this stuff is okay.'  Use good judgment.  Don't drink and drive and take Echinacea.  Don't operate heavy machinery under the influence of this blog, and insert any other applicable disclaimers here...

All the Dirt on Sassafras

In 1603 the first Europeans sailed up the Piscataqua River, exploring what is now the border between New Hampshire and Maine.  This was a commercial venture, as they were specifically searching for something they knew they could sell for a lot of money...

Sassafras trees.

Sassafras leaves turning color for fall

Back when, Sassafras root extract was considered to have great medicinal value as a cure for fevers, rheumatism, and STD's such as gonorrhea and syphilis (you don't often think of people back in the 1600's having these problems, do you?).  Several Native American tribes used Sassafras medicinally, and when colonial Americans brought this knowledge back to Europe, it became quite the medicinal fad.  For a short time Sassafras was the second largest export from colonial America, behind tobacco.

I have several of these native Sassafras trees in my backyard.  Anyone want to pay some big bucks for them?

Sassafras has been found to have some analgesic and antiseptic properties.  Some people still drink sassafras tea for such things as gastrointestinal problems and for use as a diuretic, and some also use it topically to sooth skin irritation.  However, the research from the 1960's found that very large amounts of safrole, which sassafras oil is largely made up of, caused cancer and permanent liver damage in laboratory rats.   So don't ever be a laboratory rat.  (Oh, and you might want to drink that tea in moderate amounts..)

The Sassafras tree is also interesting in that it has three different shaped leaves on the same tree!
(photo source - Augusta, GA government website)

High doses of safrole are also hallucinogenic, which is probably why it is used in the making of the drug MDMA, more widely known as 'Ecstasy' and 'molly' (thank you, Miley Cyrus, for bringing that to my attention).  Thus the transportation of safrole is closely monitored internationally.

The Sassafras trees in my yard are just for ornamental use, really!

Sassafras root used to also be the main flavoring for root beer before its ban by the FDA.  Root beer affectionados still make it themselves from natural Sassafras extract that has all dreaded safrole removed.  Or they make it from scratch from Sassafras roots.  (You can find a recipe here.) Sassafras is also used in Creole cooking.  Filé powder, which is made up from the dried, ground up Sassafras leaves and doesn't contain very much safrole, is used as a thickening seasoning for gumbo.  

Makes you want to go out and smell some Sassafras, doesn't it?

While I admire the Sassafras for its rich history, its varied uses, and its fragrant leaves and wood, I have to admit that as a gardener I really love these native trees for a totally different reason.

They're just really pretty trees.

the interestingly contorted branches of a Sassafras tree