- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Dry prairies and steppes of North America, and also of Europe and Asia
- Traditions
- Lakota medicine, Anishinaabe medicine
North America · Herb · № 956
Artemisia frigida
Herb · North America
Fringed sage
Artemisia frigida
A low, silver-grey, strongly scented wormwood shrub. Contains a volatile oil with camphor and cineole and, like other wormwoods, thujone.
Safety notes
Contains thujone: do not take for long or in large amounts. Not in pregnancy, since it was used precisely to bring on menstruation. Not with an allergy to the daisy family. 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 (2)
- Lakota (Teton Sioux) medicine: Not in pregnancy. Contains thujone: do not take for long.
- Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) medicine: Not in pregnancy.
Preparation
Tea or decoction of the herb; the dried root powdered and smouldered on coals, the smoke breathed in.
Use in traditions
Eagle Shield treated headache with the powdered root, which he sprinkled on glowing coals; the patient breathed in the smoke. The Dakota call the plant 'woman's medicine': women bathed in a decoction and drank it when menstruation was irregular. The Blackfoot used it for coughs, colds and wounds. Among the Ojibwe the root was one of the four ingredients of the medicine bi'jikiwuk.
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
For headache (Eagle Shield). Among the Dakota 'woman's medicine', for irregular menstruation.
Preparation and amount
Powder the dried root and sprinkle it on glowing coals; breathe in the smoke. Among the Dakota a decoction to bathe in and drink.
Caution: Not in pregnancy. Contains thujone: do not take for long.
Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) medicine
Attributed effects
One of the four ingredients of bi'jikiwuk, Main'gans's medicine for fits and bleeding.
Preparation and amount
Wash, scrape, dry and powder the root, and mix it in equal parts with ground plum and prairie rose; on hot water with Seneca snakeroot.
Caution: Not in pregnancy.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)DecoctionSteam and bathPowder and kitchen