Squaw Vine

Botanical Name: Mitchella repens Family: Rubiaceae

Common name(s): Squaw Vine, Patridgeberry, Twinberry, Deerberry

GROWING

  • Evergreen herb | Zone 4-9 | 1 foot tall | White flowers in late spring/early summer followed by red berries
  • Partial to full shade| Consistently moist soil

HARVESTING

Harvest the aerial parts and berries in late summer.

PREPARATION / DOSAGE

Infusion: Pour 1 cup of boiling water onto 1 teaspoons of the herb and let sit for  10-15 minutes. Drink 3x/day.

Tincture: 1-2ml 3x/day

MEDICAL

Constituents: Mucilage, saponins. Not very well known but probably also contains alkaloids, glycosides, and tannins

Actions: Astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue, parturient, tonic

Uses: Painful periods (dysmenorrhoea), preparing the uterus for childbirth, absent periods (amenorrhea), colitis, diarrhea

Combinations: Use with raspberry leaves for a parturient tonic.

Cautions: Do not take during the first 6 months of pregnancy.

CHINESE MEDICINE

Bitter, cool energy

SOURCES 


It consistently amazes me when I do one of these materia medica only to find out that it is a plant I know – by sight, not by name. I love connecting the dots! I live in a forest town and see this plant all over the place, and I usually bend a leaf and sniff it to see if it is  wintergreen, a look-alike.