5 Medicinal Plants to Spot on Your Next Hike
Along with gorgeous views and fresh air, learning to recognize useful plants along the trail can help you feel at home in the forest. The plants listed here are all easy to identify and often abundant along trails. Each of these five plants has an interesting story of its medicinal use not often included in guidebooks. The pictures were taken from National Parks and Forests in the west, but the plants are common across the US. These plant stories are just for fun, so be sure to talk to your doctor if you’re interested in using any of these cures yourself.
1. Willow bush (Salix spp.)
Willow bush
The willow bush is abundant along streams and creeks. You can identify willow by its thin silvery leaves along each woody branch. Chewing on willow bark has been used for pain relief by people as far back as Hippocrates. The pain reliever, salicin, is found in the bark. Salicin is easily converted to salicylic acid in the body and is also found in the bark of Spireabushes. Salicylic acid in its purified form was too harsh on stomachs to be useful for pain relief, so chemists working for Bayer made an acetylated form of salicylic acid and called it aspirin (the “a” in aspirin is for acetylated and the “spir” is from the Spirea bush). Bayer, a German company at the time, was unable to obtain a patent in Germany for aspirin, so moved to the US to begin producing and selling Bayer aspirin. It is interesting to note that salicylic acid, when consumed along with other tannins and plant constituents from willow bark, is not as irritating to the stomach as when in its isolated form. Willow bark extract is still used by some for relieving arthritis pain.
2. Mullein (Verbascum densiflorum)
Mullein
Mullein is a fuzzy-leafed plant with a sprig of yellow flowers. The flowers only appear every other year. The large, fuzzy leaves are the best way to identify this plant. Mullein was commonly used by Indigenous healers across the US to treat respiratory illness. Interestingly, the leaves were dried and smoked to help rid people of coughs. Although this seems counter to advice we hear today, it makes sense that smoking the herb is an efficient way to get volatile oils in the leaves directly to the affected tissues. Although smoking these leaves is less common today, inhaling fumes from an herbal steam bath or tea is still a practice prescribed by medicinal herbalists to treat respiratory illness. Mullein use also stands up to research; reports show mullein is both anti-inflammatory and a cough suppressor. Furthermore, flowers from this plant can be soaked in a carrier oil to make “ear oil,” and used treat ear infections.
3. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
Mugwort
The Artemisia genus has been especially helpful to people all over the world and in many different cultures. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), shown at left, was once used in place of hops for brewing beer and is believed to bring vivid dreams by placing a sprig under the pillow or drinking a tea made from its leaves at bedtime. It can be identified by its ragged light green to silvery leaves that are fuzzy underneath. Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) is used to make smudges to cleanse the air before some Native American religious ceremonies. It is also used in moxibustion, or burning herb fibers during or after acupuncture. Finally, Artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood, was the species of Artemisia Tu Youyou used to discover artemisinin to treat soldiers infected with malaria during the Vietnam war. Although her discovery was kept secret at first, she eventually shared her discovery with the world and received the Nobel Prize in 2015.
4. Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
Feverfew
This beautiful plant has tiny white flowers with yellow centers and small leaves with ragged edges. It is in the Asteracae family (along with the daisy and chrysanthemum). The leaves are used to treat migraines and arthritis pain. It also grows abundantly in Europe and has roots in European phytotherapy. The use of this plant for migraines has been so well-studied that allopathic doctors also frequently recommend its use to patients. The individual active components in the leaf have been isolated and identified by researchers, but the therapy is still most effective in the fresh or recently dried leaf. However, this plant can also stimulate the uterus, so don’t eat a leaf, especially if you’re pregnant, without talking to your doctor first.
5. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow
Yarrow can be identified by looking for the white array of dense, small white flowers with thick feathery, fuzzy leaves. Since similar flowers are also seen on Queen Anne’s lace and other common wildflowers, the key to identifying yarrow is to look closely at the leaves. It is also abundant across Europe as well as North America and has been well-studied. The preparation and use of yarrow is well documented in both the US Pharmacopoeia and the British Pharmacopoeia. Tinctures (made from an alcohol and water mixture) and infusions (made with just hot water, no alcohol) are sipped by patients to reduce fevers or stimulate digestion. Flavonoids in the leaves and flowers are thought to be the medicinally active components. Yarrow has also been used topically for wound-healing.
National Parks and Forests Conservation Efforts of Native Plants
If you’re planning a trip to a National Park, I recommend you buy a guide specific to the park in the gift store for identifying plants along the trails. Remember to enjoy the beauty, interest, and abundance of plants along the trail, but not to collect plants from National Parks and Forests. National Parks and Forests play an important role in conservation and ensuring these plants remain abundant for future generations. Shown here is a sign outside a plant conservation site at Tahoe National Forest. The Tahoe Yellow Cress was almost extinct before this restoration project began, but has made a great comeback thanks to these efforts. For more about this project, visit US Fish and Wildlife Service. You can also donate to National Parks Conservation Association to help conservation efforts.
To purchase these herbs from a business with sustainable practices: