WATERCRESS
The whole Watercress plant may be used medicinally. It contains vitamins A, B, C D and G as well as iodine, calcium, copper, sulfur and manganese.
INTERNAL USE: Watercress is used to help purify the blood, stimulate the flow of bile, and help with anemia. It is also helpful to treat acne, eczema, age spots, internal tumors, uterine cysts, kidney problems and kidney stones. It also increases milk production in lactating mothers.
WHITE OAK BARK
This tree‘s bark of this tree is used medicinally. It has B12, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iodine, sulfur, iron, sodium, cobalt, tin, lead and strontium.
INTERNAL USE: A Tea of this herb is used for bleeding stomachs, lungs and rectums. It also helps stop diarrhea, easing the passage of gallstones and kidney stones, increases urine flow, and cleansing of stomach from excess mucus. It is used as a douche to correct vaginal infections and as an enema for piles or hemorrhoids.
EXTERNAL USE: White Oak Bark Tea can be used to reduce tumors, glands, goiters, lymphatic swelling, as well as a gargle for sore gums, pyorrhea and gingivitis.
WILD YAM (DIOSCOREA VILLOSA)
This herb is also known as ColicRoot. This plant is found through out North America, Central America and Asia. The root of this plant is used medicinally as it contains steroid saponins, dioscin and diosgenin. Diosgenin is a precursor to the sex hormone progesterone. It also contains true estrogen. This herb can yield as much as 40% diosgenin.
HISTORY: American Indians used this herb as a natural form of birth control. In other areas, Wild Yam was used to help loosen up phlegm and lung congestion.
INTERNAL USE: Wild Yam can be taken as a tincture, capsule form, or as a dried root. This herb helps provide strength to the liver, spleen, pancreas and gallbladder. It also has antiseptic properties, as well as being an anti-spasmodic.
WHITE WILLOW (SALIX ALBA)
This tree is from the SALICAEAE family. This tree is found in North America and Europe and is named for "Sal lis", which is the Celtic word for "Near Water. Willows grow extremely well by the banks of water sources, such as rivers and lakes. The bark of this tree is used medicinally. White Willow is an alternative to Aspirin. The active ingredient in White Willow Bark is Salicin.
HISTORY: This tree has been used medicinally by peoples around the world for centuries. It was also considered a lucky plant, and many times people would tie the branches in knots, make a wish, and then when the wish came true, the knot would be untied.
INTERNAL USE: A tea of White Willow can help alleviate headaches, muscle aches, gonorrhea, gout, hot flashes, malaria, migraines, urinary infections, fevers, neuralgia and joint pain. It also soothes the kidneys, urethra and bladder irritations. It is used to treat gout, rheumatism and arthritic pains. A gargle of White Willow can help heal throat and tonsil infections.
EXTERNAL USE: White Willow has strong antiseptic qualities, and is an excellent wash for infected wounds, ulceration's, burns, dandruff, eczema, eyewashes, and other skin inflammations.
WITCH HAZEL (HAEMAMELIS VIRGINIANA)
This perennial herb is also known as Spotted Alder and as Winterbloom. The bark of this herb is used medicinally. It contains vitamins C, E, K and P, as well as iodine, manganese, zinc, copper, and selenium. It also has the active ingredient hamamelitannin. This herb is found in almost all households as a bottle of antibacterial astringent.
INTERNAL USE: Witch Hazel can be taken as a tea or tincture. Can be used for bleeding internally, excessive menstruation, lung, stomach, uterus and bowel bleeding, and for help with hemorrhoids. It can help stop diarrhea and aid with elimination of dysentery. A tea can also be used as a douche to help stop vaginal discharges and infections. The tea also helps as a gargle with stopping bleeding gums, and inflamed mouth or throat tissues.
EXTERNAL USE: Witch Hazel can be used topically on acne, burns, wounds, varicose veins, cuts and bruises.
WOOD BETONY (STACHYS OFFICINALIS)
This perennial herb is from the LAMIACEAE family. It is also known as Crown Chakra or Bishops Wort.. The tops of this herb, which grow up to two feet high are used medicinally. Wood Betony contains the minerals magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, the chemical compounds nervine, tannin, glycosides, saponins, choline and the alkaloids betonicine, stacydrine, trigonelline and betaine.
HISTORY: The name of this plant means "Herb for the Head". It comes from the people of the Iberian Peninsula. Anglo Saxons wore it as a protective emblem in the dark ages, and in Medieval England, it was used to treat bad dreams of devils and demons.
INTERNAL USE: Wood Betony can be taken as a tea or tincture. This herb helps headaches located at the top of the skull. It is also used daily to prevent migraine headaches. Wood Betony helps to stop nerve twitching in the face and Palsy. It also successfully expels worms, opens obstructions in the liver and gall bladder, soothes the spleen and helps treat jaundice. It nourishes the pineal gland, protecting it from degeneration. Degeneration of the pineal gland can cause Insanity and Vitiligo (discoloration of skin caused by loss of pigment). The use of Wood Betony may take months before it shows results.
EXTERNAL USE: A Tincture can be applied to Cuts, Wounds, Sores and Hemorrhoids.
