Pedicularis canadensis
Encyclopedia
Pedicularis canadensis is a flowering plant in the Orobanchaceae
family and is also known as Wood Betony, Beefsteak Plant, Canadian Lousewort, High Heal-all, Snaffles and Canada Lousewort. It is found in thickets and dry, open wooded areas throughout Canada and the United States. It is a low, hairy plant with a broad whorl of tubular, hooded flowers on top of a segmented stalk. It has long, soft, hairy leaves (many are basal, growing tufted from roots), some 5 to 15 inches long, deeply incised and toothed, often reddish. A favorite of bees, its flowers bloom from April through June. The flowers range in color from a greenish-yellow to purplish-red, clustered on short, dense spikes. The fruit is a long brown seed capsule.
bites. The Meskwaki
and Potawatomi
would use the entire plant to make a tea used to reduce internal swelling. The root was used in a poultice
for external use.
as a vegetable, like spinach, it was also used by early Canadian settlers in soup. It was added to oats and used as horse feed by Native Americans.
Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae, the broomrape family, is a family of flowering plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato...
family and is also known as Wood Betony, Beefsteak Plant, Canadian Lousewort, High Heal-all, Snaffles and Canada Lousewort. It is found in thickets and dry, open wooded areas throughout Canada and the United States. It is a low, hairy plant with a broad whorl of tubular, hooded flowers on top of a segmented stalk. It has long, soft, hairy leaves (many are basal, growing tufted from roots), some 5 to 15 inches long, deeply incised and toothed, often reddish. A favorite of bees, its flowers bloom from April through June. The flowers range in color from a greenish-yellow to purplish-red, clustered on short, dense spikes. The fruit is a long brown seed capsule.
Medicinal
Some Native Americans used it to cure rattlesnakeRattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
bites. The Meskwaki
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki are a Native American people often known to outsiders as the Fox tribe. They have often been closely linked to the Sauk people. In their own language, the Meskwaki call themselves Meshkwahkihaki, which means "the Red-Earths." Historically their homelands were in the Great Lakes region...
and Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
would use the entire plant to make a tea used to reduce internal swelling. The root was used in a poultice
Poultice
A poultice, also called cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds such as cuts...
for external use.
History
Eaten by IroquoisIroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
as a vegetable, like spinach, it was also used by early Canadian settlers in soup. It was added to oats and used as horse feed by Native Americans.