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Post by buffaloberry on Jul 2, 2023 7:27:19 GMT -6
Hello folks. I wanna find out if we could still use sweet everlasting for medicine and tea just as the Native Americans did years ago. I've heard it smell like maple syrup and has anybody grown some before? I'm considering growing some for my Cherokee and Miami-Illinois tribal gardens in the future to help create better awareness in my community gardens. I'd also like to learn more about its value to wildlife to this day. If any of you have any experance growing the plant, please let me know. Have a good day!
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Post by amyinowasso on Jul 3, 2023 5:29:29 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 3, 2023 11:35:39 GMT -6
I harvest sweet everlasting every Autumn that I can locate any. (I call it Rabbit Tobacco). The Latin name is, Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium. Obtusifolium is just a fancy word for "leaves that grow at obtuse angles". There are several variants of it, some varieties are way superior to others. The superior plants are rare, to say the least, and often grow 3' feet tall.
To capture the full medicinal effect of the plant, you need to harvest it after a killing frost, letting it dry down in place, still on the stalk, but before it gets rained on, as rain will leach out the light oils that the medicine comes from.
Rabbit Tobacco doesn't grow in the same place every year and sometimes it doesn't seem to be a thing that I can find. (That's why it costs so much if you have to buy the dried leaves).
I use it for cold sores, or any kind of mouth sore or injury. It works miracles to heal things like that. I also make a tincture of it with 80-proof whiskey or vodka to use in winter for sore throats or the flu. I also use it to make a soothing winter tea, as it has a pleasing, warming, effect and is a mild sedative.
It does smell like maple syrup when crushed, but that is not what it tastes like.
It is reported to be a good treatment for asthma if placed inside a pillow. I made a full-size pillow of the flowers one year when I was lucky enough to find it in great abundance. The pillow weighs about 2.5 pounds. It took several boxes of that plant to fill the pillow casing up. (I hope no one ever washes that pillow) if they do, they'll have the biggest cup of tea on their hands that anyone has seen since the Boston Tea Party.
When I find Rabbit Tobacco, I never harvest the entire crop. I always leave some for seed, and if I find seedy plants during the harvest, I broadcast them for future generations. I wouldn't say that it is a sacred plant, but I do take care to preserve it and value it a great deal for its medicinal uses, as well as its fragrance.
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Post by buffaloberry on Jul 8, 2023 18:42:06 GMT -6
You have seeds or plants of rabbit tobacco to dig up for the fall so I could plant them for next year? I'd love more great and sweet smell to my growing areas to aid butterflies and bees more as well for tea or medicine. If you have some, please message me privately to talk more about my interest in the plant. Take care.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 10, 2023 11:38:57 GMT -6
Buffaloberry,
I don't keep seeds from Rabbit Tobacco, I just find it growing along roadsides and fields in the Fall of the year.
Once you know what it looks like, it's easy to spot as you drive along the highways in August, as the flowers have a pearl white color that stands out above other common white flowers. The pearl white color is almost 'glowing' in appearance at midday, it's really hard to describe, but when you see it you'll know what I'm speaking of. Most whites are dull in appearance, but Rabbit Tobacco has a shining white or gleaming white appearance.
Once you spot it in late summer, you make note of the location, so when killing frost rolls around, you can go back there and look for it.
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