BONESET

Alternate Names: Agueweed, Feverwort, Thoroughwort, Sweating Plant, Vegetable Antimony

Parts Used: Above ground portion.

Properties: Aperient, Diaphoretic, Emetic, Expectorant, Febrifuge, Immune Stimulant, Laxative, Stimulant, Tonic.

Internal Uses: Arthritis, Bronchitis, Catarrh, Chest Colds, Constipation, Cough, Dyspepsia, Fever, Flu, Indigestion, Malaria, Rheumatism, Rhinitis, Tapeworm

Internal Applications: Tincture, Capsules. Cold infusion is tonic and mildly laxative. Warm infusion is more diaphoretic. Inhaling vapors is used for catarrh.

Boneset is both excellent for the aches and pains of the flu and fever. By inducing sweating, toxins are eliminated through the skin, and fever leaves the body. Boneset helps increase resistance to both bacterial and viral infections.

Topical Uses: Fever

Topical Applications: Wash for entire body to lower fever.

Energetics: Bitter, Cold, Dry.

Chemical Constituents: Sesquiterpene lactones (eupafolin, euperfolitin), bitter glycoside eupatorin, polysaccharides, flavonoids (kaempferol, quercitin, hyperoside, rutin), diterpenes, gallic acid, sterols, essential oil.

Contraindications: Do not use fresh (undried) plant. Large doses can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Do not use for more than two weeks at a time.

Comments: During the Civil War, Boneset was used when quinine was in short supplies. The name Boneset is from this herb treating flu, known as breakbone fever, that caused bone pain in the early part of the 20th Century. Chippewa Indians used it to call deer, by rubbing Boneset on whistles.

The common name Boneset includes the species Eupatorium tucrifolium which is used interchangeably with Eupatorium perfoliatum.

-- Phil in KS (pemccoy@yahoo.com), March 22, 2002