Medicinal Plants in Nebraska and Ohio

Common Burdock

• Originally brought to North America by colonists, common burdock (Arctium minus) spread so widely that a 17th-century botanist mistakenly identified the plant as a native. Its common names include burs, cocklebur and beggars lice, and many areas of the United States consider it an invasive noxious weed. Burdock contains a group of phytochemicals called polyacetylenes, which can kill some bacteria and fungi, and other chemicals that may help prevent cancer, James Duke wrote in "The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook." The University of Maryland Medical Center warns against gathering burdock in the wild because of its resemblance to belladonna, which is poisonous. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not use burdock because its safety has not been established.

Echinacea

• The pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida) and the narrow-leaved purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia) grow throughout most of Nebraska and all of Ohio. The Plains Indians had more medicinal uses for coneflower than for any other plant, according to James Duke and Stephen Foster's "A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America." In Germany, where the regulatory body Commission E approves echinacea root as a general immune system stimulant, you can buy over 300 herbal preparations containing echinacea. They include salves, creams, lozenges, tinctures and extracts to fight off colds, calm cold sores, ease sore throats and help prevent the flu.

Milkweed

• Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) grows in prairies and fields throughout the Midwest, including Nebraska and Ohio. Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Iroquois, Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ojibwa, used milkweed root tea as a laxative and diuretic, as well as for female health issues. Early American physicians often prescribed it for asthma and rheumatism. Every part of the plant contains cardiac glycosides, which may account for the medicinal effects. Glycosides also make the plant poisonous to humans and animals without proper preparation. Do not take milkweed internally, warns a plant fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.