HYDRANGEA
Hydrangea arborescens
COMMON NAMES: Wild hydrangea, seven barks (due to the seven separate layers of different-colored
bark).
FEATURES: Indigenous to North America and native to woodlands of rich, moist soil and some shade.
There are twenty-three species of Hydrangea related to the well-known cultivated hydrangea, widely
distributed in eastern Asia and North Central, and South America. The flowers are mostly white, often
tinged with pink or purple, and in a few are entirely colored depending on the acidity or alkalinity of the
soil. Because the flowers appear from July through September (later in milder climates), the plants are
highly valued for garden beauty and readily grown from cuttings or layering.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Dried root. (J. Kloss used the leaves as tonic, diuretic, sialagogue.)
SOLVENT: Water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Cathartic, diuretic, nephritic (relieving kidney disorders).
USES: An old and admirable remedy for gravel, and is best known for relieving the excruciating pain
experienced when the gravelly formations pass through the ureters from the kidneys to the bladder. Also
recognized for inflamed tissue of the kidney and urinary organs. Will relieve backache caused by kidney
trouble, chronic rheumatism, parallelism scurvy, and dropsy.
DOSE: A syrup or decoction of the root may be taken in teaspoonful doses several times a day.
HOMEOPATHIC CLINICAL: Tincture of fresh leaves and young shoots, fluid extract for bladder (catarrh of,
stone in), diabetes, gravel, prostatic affections, urine (incontinence of).