TURKEY CORN
Corydalis canadensis
COMMON NAMES: Wild turkey corn, stagger weed, choice dielytra, squirrel corn.
FEATURES: This indigenous perennial plant is a beautiful little herb that grows in North America, Canada
to Kentucky, in rich soil, on hills, among rocks and old decayed timber. The plant grows 6–12 inches high.
It has small, tender stalks and small, fine leaves of bluish green color; a round bulbous root about the size
of a large pea, 2–4 of these peas to a stalk, attached to small roots that are hard and of yellowish color; is
quite bitter and nearly odorless. The 6–10 small, reddish purple, nodding flowers are seen very early in
the spring, and the root should be gathered while the plant is in flower. The fruit is a pod-shaped, many-
seeded capsule. The alkaloid corydaline is the active principle.
MEDICINAL PART: Root.
SOLVENTS: Alcohol, boiling water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Tonic, diuretic, alterative.
USES: Do not discount the value of this herb because of the barnyard sound of its common name (the root
growth resembles a corn kernel). Turkey corn is one of the best alterative agents in the herbal kingdom. It
is usually combined with other remedies such as burdock (Arctium lappa), queen’s delight (Stillingia), or
prickly ash (xanthoxylum americanum). A Philadelphia professor has this to say about the small root:
“There is no fact better established than that this medicine, judiciously administered, has the power to
remove syphilis from the system.” The tincture should be prepared from the fresh herb and given in doses
of 20–30 drops, three times a day. Also admirable for scrofula and all skin diseases. Recommended in
menstrual complaints, as its tonic properties render it as an alterative in all enfeebled conditions.
DOSE: Infusion of 1 teaspoonful of the root, cut small or granulated, to 1 cupful of boiling water; steep ½
hour; drink a cold wineglassful three or four times a day. Of the powder, 5–10 grains; of the tincture, 20–
30 drops three or four times a day.
HOMEOPATHIC CLINICAL: Tincture of bulbous root gathered when plant is in flower, trituration of dried
root, trituration of corydaline for gastric catarrh, scrofula, syphilis, ulcerations.
RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE: The most interesting Russian reference is to one kind of turkey corn, Corydalis,
commonly caled chochlatka, which means in folk language hens or chickens cackling indiscriminately.
The shadowy bush or brush growth of central and south Russia is an ideal setting for survival. Indication
of past use as folk medicine is not mentioned, only Atlas (1963) giving botanical description and medical
details. Clinically: As extracts of corydil, and in combinations, for trembling, nerve paralysis, and nerve
disorders, it stimulates and increases muscle tone. Experiments on animals show positive effect on the
central nervous system. Physiologically iscoriaodine is calming to the central nervous system.
This brief information is given with the thought that the local knowledge of the Native Americans and
folk medicine in North America has been confirmed scientifically and clinically by scientists in other
countries.