Burdock is another one I have a lot of experience with both as an herb and as food.... VERY common where I live. It is wonderful, except for being hard to dig and the dogs always getting burs in their fur that usually have to be cut out. I didn't know that dock is an old term for plants with large leaves. The wild plants I harvest are tasty as cooked vegetables. I use the roots with dandelion for liver and skin - great in bitters with licorice root. The roots are mildly bitter and cooling to the liver. I want to try some of the Japanese recipes for pickling the root - it would probably be very good, although mild. I tend to toss it in with a lot of stuff since the flavor is mild.... good cooked with bacon, onion and cabbage, that is for sure! The leaves are great, too, but they usually end up as a streamside dish with trout, for me, gathered around the campsite. I like to stuff whole, cleaned trout with wild onions or ramps a few slices of lemon, salt and pepper... maybe some mushrooms and/or crawfish tails... maybe angelica... then wrap in burdock leaves - steam them and eat the whole package. I'll usually have rice with that, and it is one of those really amazing wild meals.
Leaves good for poultice. Juiced leaves good for abrasions, heat rash, chaffing etc. Leaf is anti-microbial and soothing. Plant is biennial. Harvest root before the plant seeds, in the spring of the second year or fall of first year. Root is used to diminish liver excess and nitrogen dominance. Cools liver and mildly stimulates bile. Does not suppress liver. Causes some people to sweat. Sodium leeching diuretic. Contains inulin. Inulin from Burdock, dandelion or chicory is aldosterone antidote. Good for hypertension. Good for recovering from cancer, could help prevent cancer. Increased liver bile can help with constipation. The seeds can be used but are not as strong. MM recommends fluid extract of the root. For use as a simple diuretic and mild kidney tonic, could be good when needed in pregnancy like winter pregnancy when skin isn't exposed and puts load on kidneys for excretion. Also a good aid for blood cleansing and for chronic skin issues like eczema and psoriasis. Good for atopic reaction to allergies.
ARCTIUM (Burdock) ROOT Cold Infusion, 2-4 ounces. Fluidextract [1:1, 60% alcohol] 15-30 drops. Tincture [Fresh Root, 1:2, Dry Root, 1:5, 60% alcohol] 30-90 drops, all 3X a day. SEED. Tincture [1:5, 60% alcohol] 10-25 drops. STATUS : W/C
From SPECIFIC INDICATIONS FOR HERBS IN GENERAL USE Third edition Michael Moore:
ARCTIUM Chronic aphthous stomatitis. Chronic herpes. Lipid lowering in arteriosclerosis. Adrenal cortex hyperfunctions from stress, with elevated lipids, uric acid, blood sugars with stomach hypersecretions. Hepatitis - general strengthening. Lithiasis with hyperuricemia. Acne without intestinal involvement (for long-term use). Eczema, in general (long term). Eczema, endogenous, metabolic. Chronic psoriasis, no major intestinal involvements. Skin ulcers, chronic, indolent, with impaired circulation (long term). Suppuration with pyogenic membrane (external). Gout, for the hyperuricemia. Uterus, prolapse. Blood serum levels: cholesterol elevations. Blood serum levels: hyperlipidemia, in general. Blood serum levels: uric acid elevation. Blood serum levels: acidosis, subclinical.
Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course
https://www.swsbm.com/school/
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