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Silverweed | | Name : | Silverweed | | Botanical : | Potentilla anserina | | Synonyms : | Crampweed
Fan-pai-ts'ao
Fivefingered grass
Five-leafgrass
Five-fingers
Goosegrass
Goosetansy
Moorgrass
Potentilla
Rough-fruited
Silverweed
Silvercinquefoil
| | Family : | Rosaceae | | Parts Used : | The herb | | Habitat : | Found in dry fields, wet meadows and banks, and pastures and alsoin damp marshy places all over North American and Europe. Found acrossCanada to the arctic circle, South in northern areas of the UnitedStates and the Rockies to New Mexico. | | Description : | The Silverweed, one of the commonest of the Potentillas, is very abundant in Great Britain and throughout the temperate regions, extending from Lapland to the Azores, and is equally at home in regions as remote as Armenia, China, New Zealand and Chile.
All soils are congenial to its growth. It spreads rapidly by means of long, creeping runners and thrives in moist situations, especially in clay, where the water is apt to stagnate, and is common by waysides, though on dusty ground it becomes much dwarfed.
It has a slender, branched root-stock, dark brown outside, which has been eaten in the Hebrides in times of scarcity.
The leaves are covered on both sides with a silky, white down of soft hairs, mostly marked on the underside, hence its English name of Silverweed. They are 2 to 5 inches long, much cut or divided, interruptedly pinnate, i.e. divided into twelve to fifteen pairs of oval, toothed leaflets along the midrib, each pair being separated by a shorter pair all the way up.
The buttercup-like flowers, in bloom from early summer till later autumn, are borne singly on long footstalks from the axils of the leaves on the slender runners. They are large, with five petals of a brilliant yellow colour and the calyx is cleft into ten divisions.
The Silverweed is a favourite food of cattle, horses, goats, pigs and geese. Only sheep decline it.
Older writers call it Argentina (Latin, argent, silver) from its appearance of frosted silver. The name Anserina (Latin, anser, a goose) was probably given it because geese were fond of it.
The generic name, Potentilla, is derived from the Latin adjective potens, powerful, in allusion to the medicinal properties of some of the species.
| | Constituents : | Antispasmodic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, tonic | | Uses : | A strong infusion of Silverweed, if used as a lotion, will check the bleeding of piles, the ordinary infusion (1 OZ. to a pint of boiling water) being meanwhile taken as a medicine.
The same infusion, sweetened with honey, constitutes an excellent gargle for sore throat. A tablespoonful of the powdered herb may also be taken every three hours.
It is also an excellent remedy for cramps in the stomach, heart and abdomen. In addition to the infusion taken internally, it is advisable to apply it to the affected parts on compresses.
On the Continent, a tablespoonful of the herb, boiled in a cup of milk, has been recommended as an effective remedy in tetanus, or lockjaw. The tea should be drunk as hot as possible. If the patient dislikes milk, boiling water may be used.
The dried and powdered leaves have been successfully administered in ague: the more astringent roots have been given in powder in doses of a scruple and upwards.
As a diuretic, Silverweed has been considered useful in gravel. Ettmueller extolled it as a specific in jaundice. Of the fresh plant, 3 OZ. or more may be taken three or four times daily.
The decoction has been used for ulcers in the mouth, relaxation of the uvula, spongy gums and for fixing loose teeth, also for toothache and preserving the gums from scurvy.
A distilled water of the herb was in earlier days much in vogue as a cosmetic for removing freckles, spots and pimples, and for restoring the complexion when sunburnt.
In Leicestershire, Silverweed fomentations were formerly used to prevent pitting by smallpox. Salmon (1710) says: 'It is very cold and dry in the second degree, astringent, anodyne, vulnerary and arthritic. It stops all fluxes of the bowels, even the bloody flux, also spitting, vomiting of blood, or any inward bleeding. It helps the whites in women and is profitable against ruptures in children and is good to dissipate contusions, fastens loose teeth and heals wounds or ulcers in the mouth, throat or in any part of the body, drying up old, moist, corrupt and running sores. It resists the fits of agues, is said to break the stone, and is good to cool inflammation in the eyes, as eke to take away all discolourings of the skin and to cleanse it from any kind of depredation.' | | Dosage : | Use the entire plant except the roots, dried in the shade.
Decoction: boil 2 tsp. herb in 1 cup of water or milk.
Mixed tea: mix equal parts of silverweed, balm leaves andGerman chamomile flowers. Steep 1 tsp. of the mixture in 1/2 cup water.Sweeten with honey. Take 1 to 1 1/2 cups a day, a mouthful at a time.
Infusion: use 1 tsp. of the dried herb in 1 cup of boilingwater. Cover with a saucer and steep for 30 minutes; strain. | | Myths : | Cinquefoil was used as a laxative by Paiutes; cook the whole plantwhich looks silvery and silky. Also makes a red dye.
In ancient China, this herb was used in magic for casting spellsand as a love-divining herb. | | Nutrient : | Iron, magnesium, calcium |
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