Colonial Uses of Herbs

Household Medicine

• Medicinal herbs were often administered by women because doctors were expensive and hard to find in rural communities. People placed betony (Betonica officinalis) inside a snuff pipe to reduce bruising. The herb could also help cure a person from an ulcer when prepared as a juice. Colonials gave betony to people seeking an end to nightmares, according to the Miller-Cory House Museum's education committee in Westfield, New Jersey. Doctors would prescribe foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) in the form of a pill made from the herb's dry leaves to treat heart problems. Lamb's ear (Stachys olympica) kept wounds clean and hastened the healing of cuts. Colonials gave garden heliotrope (Valeriana officinalis) to females who had hysteria and stomach troubles associated with their monthly menstrual cycle.

Cooking

• Cooks flavored poultry and high-fat meats with sage. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum), eaten after a meal, erased any odor left being from garlic. Colonials used lovage (Levisticum officinale) as an additive to salads. Historic, culinary uses for spearmint (Mentha spicata) included placement in jellies and mint-based sauces. Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) was made into candy and placed into cold medicine, according to the Chadds Ford Historical Society in Pennsylvania. Hostesses garnished plates of fruit with anise hyssop.

Drinks

• Early Americans drank tea infused with herbs for medical purposes and mixed punches. Colonists flavored tea with herbs instead of what was considered traditional tea leaves once traditional tea drinking was labeled as unpatriotic. Orange mint (Mentha citrate) added taste to punches and teas. People in colonial America used the leaves of beebalm to make black tea.

Pesticides

• People living in Colonial times created pesticides out of herbs. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) repelled beetles. Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) and tansy got rid of mosquitoes, the Chadds Ford Historical Society reports. Colonials sprinkled anise around the house to eliminate mice trouble. Both garlic (Allium sativum) and onion (Allium cepa) helped clear out aphids, beetles, mice and moles.