SPIKENARD
Aralia racemosa
COMMON NAMES: Indian spikenard, American spikenard, petty morrel, like of man, spignet, old man’s
root, wild licorice.
FEATURES: Spikenard is a perennial plant of the ginseng family Araliaceae. Found from Quebec to
southeastern Manitoba, south to Georgia and Kansas, in rich wooded areas. The root stalk is light brown,
thick, and fleshy, with prominent stem scars and furnished with numerous long, thick roots that have a
spicy taste and have been used in flavoring root beer. The large, compound, rather imposing leaves,
sometimes nearly 3 feet long and with broad leaflets, grow alternately from a slightly zigzag stem; they
are light green with deeply furrowed indentations the length of the leaf. The flowers are small and
greenish yellow or greenish white and are in many-branched, long clusters. The dark purple berries are
pleasantly flavored and can be made into jelly.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Root, rhizome.
SOLVENT: Water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Alterative, diaphoretic, expectorant.
USES: Native Americans used the whole root as food. For many years spikenard has been used as an
addition to cough syrups, with other agents according to the nature of the cough. For irritable conditions,
combine with 1 ounce of wild cherry syrup (Prunus serotina); for old coughs, with 1 ounce of
elecampane (Inula helenium); for relaxed coughs, with 1 ounce coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara). Any one of
the above to be mixed with 1–2 ounces of the tincture of spikenard (Aralia racemosa) in syrup form. The
alterative properties are of use in general uric acid disorders of rheumatic conditions. Often used by
Native American women a few months before the time of delivery to shorten pain and delivery; every
misery prevented is a new blessing. Spikenard is combined with many other well-known herbs to build or
purify the bloodstream, the true source of pimples, acne, eruptions, etc.
DOSE: The infusion of ½ ounce in 1 pint of boiling water is taken in wineglassful doses. Of the tincture,
1–2 fluidrams.
HOMEOPATHIC CLINICAL: Tincture of fresh wild plant in bloom for asthma, cough, diarrhea,
hemorrhoids, hay fever, leukorrhea, prolapsus ani.
RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE: In far eastern Russia, Manchuria, and China, a shrub known as Aralia manchuria
grows up to 15 feet in height and is of the same family as the American spikenard. Uses: The properties of
the plant are very close to ginseng. They use the roots as a general tonic and stimulant, especially for
physical and mental exhaustion. Clinically: In Khabarovsk, far eastern Russia, they produce the extract for
clinical use.