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Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations | Ayervedic Formulas | Chinese Formulas SpeedwellContents:Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Scientific Names
Common Names
Parts Usually UsedThe flowering plant, leaves, root
Description of Plant(s) and CultureSpeedwell is a small perennial plant; the creeping, woody, hairy stem sends up branches from 3 to 10 inches high and is rooted at the joints. The opposite, oblong, grayish-green leaves are soft and have finely toothed margins. The light blue flowers have violet streaks and grow in dense, axillary, spikelike racemes from May to August. The fruit is an obovate, compressed, hairy capsule. Another variety: Thyme-leaved speedwell (V. serpyllifolia); leaf juice used by Native Americans for earaches; leaves poulticed for boils; tea used for chills and coughs. Where FoundFound in dry meadows, waste places, fields, and woods over the eastern half of North America, as far south as North Carolina and Tennessee.
Medicinal PropertiesAlterative, diuretic, expectorant, stomachic, tonic
Biochemical InformationAucubin
Legends, Myths and StoriesSimilar in flavor to Chinese green tea, Speedwell tea is a common tea in Europe and is, in fact, known there as The` de l’Europe.
Of the 20 or so Veronica species that occur in North America, almost all are naturalized weeds from Europe and Asia. They are often found growing on lawns in the United States. Most species have blue veins on violet-blue flowers, and a whitish center.
UsesA tonic, used in cough, catarrh, asthma, lung diseases, kidney ailments, rheumatism, jaundice, promotes sweating, urination, and menses, and for skin diseases. Primarily used as an expectorant in respiratory problems. Used for stomach ailments, migraine headaches, and as a gargle for mouth and sore throat sores. The fresh juice is taken in large quantities for gout, and it can be used externally to relieve chronic skin problems.
Formulas or DosagesInfusion: steep 2 tsp. flowering herb in 1/2 cup boiling water. Take 1 to 1 1/2 cups a day, a mouthful at a time. Juice: take 2 tsp. in water or milk, 3 times a day. WarningOne component, aucubin, though liver-protective, anti-oxidant, and antiseptic, can be toxic in grazing animals.
Bibliography
Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition
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Fluellin
American Folk Medicine
, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973
, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000Copyright © 1996-2010 Lynn DeVries, all rights reserved.