- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Prairies, riverbanks and moist hollows across most of North America, from Canada to California and Texas
- Traditions
- Lakota medicine
North America · Herb · № 955
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
Herb · North America
American licorice
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
A legume with long, tough, sweet roots, related to true licorice. The root tastes of licorice; it contains less glycyrrhizin than Glycyrrhiza glabra.
Safety notes
The young shoots can be poisonous. Taken for longer, licorice root can raise blood pressure and lower potassium; not with high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease, in pregnancy or with diuretics. Traditional use is no proof of effect; consult a doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, take medication or have a medical condition.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Lakota (Teton Sioux) medicine: Not with high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease or in pregnancy.
Preparation
Chew a piece of dried root, or make a tea of the root.
Use in traditions
The roots were eaten and used as medicine. The Lakota healer Eagle Shield, who received his remedies from the bear, gave wild licorice to the sick and sang a bear song with it, never more than three times: 'My paw is sacred, all things are sacred.' The bear was the animal that knows roots, because it digs them up with its claws.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Lakota (Teton Sioux) medicine
Attributed effects
A remedy of Eagle Shield, who received his remedies for adults from the bear, used in treating the sick.
Preparation and amount
Give the root, with a bear song that is sung no more than three times.
Caution: Not with high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease or in pregnancy.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)