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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wild Edibles: Common Speedwell (Veronicas)

Veronica officinalis

Forms:
Juice, tea, and extract from the leaves and tops of Veronica officinalis L.

Traditional Usage:
Appetite loss, arthritic pain relief, bladder health maintenance, blood purification, cleansing, detoxifying, diarrhea, gastrointestinal disorders, liver health maintenance, nerve health maintenance, respiratory health maintenance, skin disorders, ulcers, urinary tract infections, wounds.

Identified by Heather Irvine (a former student at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in Ithaca, NY and a current student at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism) on a Wild Edibles Walk at the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. This plant grows everywhere and I could never identify it. It is so small that it is barely visible. Heather called this flower Veronica.
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3 comments:

  1. IrishcodaMay 29, 2008 9:44 AM

    Wow, this would be a good one for me to try if I could identify it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary Stebbins TaittMay 29, 2008 11:19 PM

    HAH!

    Even though I was really into wild edibles and medicinals, and even though I know the speedwells, I didn't know this about them.

    Cool. If they actually work, I should go out in my yard and start digging. :-D

    ReplyDelete
  3. MarvinJune 02, 2008 1:29 PM

    With a name like Speedwell, it's got to work wonders. I don't recognize the plant and it's pretty little flower, but from your description it would be easy to over look.

    Thanks for the informative post.

    ReplyDelete

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