PDR for Herbal Medicines

HERBAL MONOGRAPHS

Swamp Milkweed

Asclepias incarnata

DESCRIPTION

Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the rhizome with

roots.

Flower and Fruit: The flowers are reddish-purple. They are

located on terminal umbels in clusters of 2 to 6 on a 5 cm

long peduncle. The umbels consist of 10 to 20 small florets.

The fruit is a long pod.

Leaves, Stem and Root: The herbaceous plant is up to 80 cm

high. The stem is erect and smooth. The upper part of the

stem is branched and very leafy. The leaves are opposite,

petiolate, oblong, lanceolate, hairy, acute and cordate at the

base. They are 10 to 18 cm long, 2.5 to 5 cm wide and sharp-

edged. The rhizome is about 2 to 3 cm in diameter,

yellowish-brown, irregularly globular or oblong, hard and

knotty. The rhizome is covered with a thin, tough bark and is

surrounded by light brown rootlets that are about 10 cm long.

Characteristics: The taste is sweetish, acrid and bitter. The

plant's roots exude latex that is typical of \he genus (and

giving rise to the name Milkweed,) which is slightly acrid_

and has a strong odor that decreases on drying.

Habitat: Swamp Milkweed is indigenous to America,

Canada and Asia.

Other Names: Swamp Silkweed, Rose-Colored Silkweed

ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY

COMPOUNDS

Cardioactive steroids (cardenolids): including asclepiadin

EFFECTS

The root is said to contain asclepiadin (cardiac glycoside),

which is positively inotropic and emetic.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Unproven Uses: Similar to other Asclepiadaceae, Swamp

Milkweed is mainly used for digestive disorders.

Homeopathic Uses: The main importance of medicinal use

of the American varieties is in homeopathy, but further

details are not available.

PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS
No health hazards or side effects are known in conjunction
with the proper administration of designated therapeutic
dosages. The drug has an emetic effect in higher dosages,
and digitalis-like poisonings are possible due to the cardioac-
tive steroid content. For possible symptoms and treatments
for poisonings, see Digitalis folium.

SWEET CICELY / 743

LITERATURE

Kern W, List PH, Horhammer L (Hrsg.), Hagers Handbuch der

Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 4. AufL Bde. 1-8, Springer Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1969.

Sweet Cicely

Myrrhis odorata

DESCRIPTION

Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts of the plant are the

entire herb and the seeds.

Flower and Fruit: The white flowers appear in early

summer. The complex umbels are flattened on top, many-

rayed and more cyme-like at the end of the branches. The

rays of the androgynous flowers are covered in thick down.

The pedicles of the male flowers are hollow. In the flowering

season, the umbels are erect and closed. The fruit is

elongate-pyramid-shaped, 2 to 2.5 cm long, compressed at

the sides and brown to glossy black.

Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is a perennial with a thick,

gnarled, brown, branched and polycephalous rhizome. The

stem is erect, 50tgc£20 erri KghVcane-irk'e and, higher up, is

glabrous or villous and branched. The nodes are covered in

long, fine hairs. The 2- to 4-pinnatisect leaves are large, soft,

triangular and covered underneath with short, soft bristles.

Characteristics: The leaves smell like garden lovage and

taste like anise.

Habitat: The herb is found in mountainous regions from the

Pyrenees to the Caucasus and is cultivated elsewhere.

Production: Sweet Cicely root and herb are the whole plant

of Myrrhis odorata.

Other Names: Sweet Chervil, Sweet Bracken, Sweet-Fern,

Sweet-Cus, Sweet-Humlock, Sweets, The Roman Plant,

Shepherd's Needle, British Myrrh

ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY

COMPOUNDS

Volatile oil: chief components are trans-anethole, additional-

ly germacrene-D, anisaldehyde, limonene, chavicolmethyl

ether, beta-caryophyllene, alpha-pinene, alpha-farnesene,

myrcene. Also, in the roots, trans-isoosmorhizol.

Flavonoids: apigenine-7-O-glucoside, luteolin-7-O-gluco-

side

EFFECTS

The drug is said to be a carminative, digestive and

expectorant.